Scheel Lab
Molly Duman Scheel, PhD, professor of medical and molecular genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, works with colleagues on a variety of strategies to mitigate the impact of mosquito-borne illnesses such as Zika and dengue fever.
The Scheel Lab received two grants from the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop environmentally safe larvicides as well as traps designed to be attractive environments for mosquitoes to lay their eggs. They are also designing mosquito-specific pesticides that can be delivered as attractive toxic sugar baits, a new paradigm for mosquito control that exploits the sugar feeding behavior of female and male mosquitoes that are lured to feed on a sugar source containing an insecticide. These studies involve partnerships with researchers at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Thailand. The DOD is interested in protecting military personnel and their families from mosquito-borne illnesses when deployed.
Contact: Molly Duman Scheel, PhD
