Dr Rod Dillon

Lecturer

Personal Introduction

Leading a research group studying the role of Phlebotomine sand flies as transmitters of the medically important parasite Leishmania. Leishmaniasis is a neglected disease found in 88 countries worldwide with over 12 million cases and 2 million new cases every year. We are using DNA technologies including gene silencing to research the interactions between the Leishmania parasite and its blood sucking sand fly host. Research spans all aspects from lab to field work. Research includes Brazilian funded collaborative work with labs in Brazil. We are using our strain of Lutzomyia longipalpis to sequence the sand fly genome with scientists in Baylor College Texas. Main aim of our work is to discover new ways of disrupting transmission of this insect–borne disease.