The University of Notre Dame has announced a five-year, $23 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a study of mosquito-borne diseases.

The grant will support the research of biologists Nicole Achee and Neil Lobo, co-principal investigators and associate professors in the university’s department of biological sciences who are working to show the effectiveness of spatial repellency — a new paradigm in mosquito control — in preventing malaria and dengue fever. According to the World Health Organization, 207 million cases of malaria were reported globally in 2012, while 50 million to 100 million dengue infections occur every year.

Achee and Lobo are measuring the benefits of using a spatial repellent product to prevent malaria and dengue infections in humans, both of which are transmitted by multiple species of the Anopheles mosquito. The project will operate through two separate but integrally related work streams — one focused on generating the scientific evidence required to demonstrate the effectiveness of the intervention, and the other designed to inform global health policy. As the project progresses, Achee and Lobo will present their findings to global, regional and local public health authorities for consideration in the development of a recommendation that spatial repellents be included in disease control programs — either as standalone tools or combined with existing interventions.

"Spatial repellents may allow us to prevent the spread of disease in places where traditional interventions such as bed nets and indoor residual spraying are not completely effective," said Lobo. "We have data that show spatial repellents are effective against insecticide-resistant populations, which may have the potential to limit the spread or emergence of insecticide resistance — one of the many challenges faced by public health officials today. Residual transmission is also a significant global concern, and when combined with other tools we expect they will prove to be even more effective."