Amanda Callaghan

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Amanda Callaghan

FRES
Alma mater London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions University of Montpellier
University of Reading

Amanda Callaghan FRES is an entomologist in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Education and career

Callaghan was awarded a PhD in Insect Biochemistry from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1989, she then moved to the University of Montpellier as a Royal Society Science Exchange fellow. [1]

Since 1990 she has been based at the University of Reading, where she is Professor of Invertebrate Zoology and is also Curator of the Cole Museum of Zoology. [2]

Research

Her research looks at freshwater invertebrates and she specialises in British mosquitoes, and the microplastic pollution and ecotoxicology of freshwater invertebrates.

Callaghan has showed that in lab experiments mosquito larvae can feed on microplastic particles and these will remain in their bodies when they metamorphose through to a pupa and then a flying adult mosquito. [3]

She monitors British mosquito species to look at whether their distribution and behaviour is changing in response to global climate change and whether there might be a risk of Malaria disease transmission in Northern Europe. [4] In particular she has highlighted that the use of water butts in UK gardens can create a habitat in which female mosquitoes can lay their eggs. [5]

Related Research Articles

Malaria Mosquito-borne infectious disease

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria.

Mosquitofish species of fish

The western mosquitofish is a species of freshwater fish, also known commonly, if ambiguously, as simply mosquitofish or by its generic name, Gambusia, or by the common name gambezi. Its sister species, the eastern mosquitofish,, is also referred to by these names.

Jennifer Alice Clack, FRS was an English palaeontologist, an expert in the field of evolutionary biology. She studied the "fish to tetrapod" transition: the origin, evolutionary development and radiation of early tetrapods and their relatives among the lobe-finned fishes. She is best known for her book Gaining Ground: the Origin and Early Evolution of Tetrapods, published in 2002 and written with the layman in mind.

<i>Anopheles</i> Genus of mosquito

Anopheles is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognised; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria in humans in endemic areas. Anopheles gambiae is one of the best known, because of its predominant role in the transmission of the most dangerous malaria parasite species – Plasmodium falciparum.

Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by forcing hibernation. However, many were present in northern Europe and northern America in the 17th and 18th centuries before modern understanding of disease causation. The initial impetus for tropical medicine was to protect the health of colonial settlers, notably in India under the British Raj. Insects such as mosquitoes and flies are by far the most common disease carrier, or vector. These insects may carry a parasite, bacterium or virus that is infectious to humans and animals. Most often disease is transmitted by an insect "bite", which causes transmission of the infectious agent through subcutaneous blood exchange. Vaccines are not available for most of the diseases listed here, and many do not have cures.

Giovanni Battista Grassi Italian zoologist

Giovanni Battista Grassi was an Italian physician and zoologist, best known for his pioneering works on parasitology, especially on malariology. He was Professor of Comparative Zoology at the University of Catania from 1883, and Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Sapienza University of Rome from 1895 until his death. His scientific contributions covered embryological development of honey bees, on helminth parasites, the vine parasite phylloxera, on migrations and metamorphosis in eels, and on termites. He was the first to describe and establish the life cycle of the human malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and discovered that only female anopheline mosquitoes are capable of transmitting the disease. His works in malaria remain a lasting controversy in the history of Nobel Prizes, because a British army surgeon Ronald Ross, who discovered the transmission of malarial parasite in birds was given the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. But Grassi, who demonstrated the complete route of transmission of human Plasmodium, and correctly identified the types of malarial parasite as well as the mosquito vector, Anopheles claviger, was denied.

<i>Aedes aegypti</i> mosquito species

Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. The mosquito can be recognized by white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax. This mosquito originated in Africa, but is now found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world.

Mosquito control efforts to reduce damage from mosquitoes

Mosquito control manages the population of mosquitoes to reduce their damage to human health, economies, and enjoyment. Mosquito control is a vital public-health practice throughout the world and especially in the tropics because mosquitoes spread many diseases, such as malaria and the Zika virus.

Sir Hugh Charles Jonathan Godfray CBE FRS is a British zoologist. He is Hope Professor of Zoology at Jesus College, Oxford, Director of the Oxford Martin School and Director Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food.

Microplastics Very small pieces of plastic that pollute the environment

Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic that pollute the environment. Microplastics are not a specific kind of plastic, but rather any type of plastic fragment that is less than 5 mm in length according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They enter natural ecosystems from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing, and industrial processes.

Janet Hemingway British parasitologist

Janet Hemingway is a British entomologist, Professor of Insect Molecular Biology and Director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). She also works on advocacy and resource mobilisation at the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC), and is International Director of the Joint Centre for Infectious Diseases Research, Jizan, Saudi Arabia. She is "the youngest woman to ever to become a full professor in the UK".

Effects of global warming on humans Impact of climate change on humanity

Global warming has brought about possibly irreversible alterations to Earth's geological, biological and ecological systems. These changes have led to the emergence of large-scale environmental hazards to human health, such as extreme weather, ozone depletion, increased danger of wildland fires, loss of biodiversity, stresses to food-producing systems and the global spread of infectious diseases. In addition, climatic changes are estimated to cause over 150,000 deaths annually.

Rita Tewari Indian parasitologist

Rita Tewari is an Indian parasitologist who studies the molecular biology of malaria. She currently holds a post as professor at the University of Nottingham.

Tamara Susan Galloway is a British marine scientist and Professor of Ecotoxicology at the University of Exeter. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2019 Birthday Honours.

Chelsea Rochman American marine and freshwater ecologist

Chelsea Marina Rochman is an American marine and freshwater ecologist whose research focuses on anthropogenic stressors in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Since September 2016, Rochman has been an assistant professor at the University of Toronto in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a scientific advisor to the Ocean Conservancy.

Victoria A. Braithwaite was a British scientist who was a Professor of Animal Behaviour and Cognition at Pennsylvania State University. She was the first person to demonstrate that fish feel pain, which impacted animal welfare research and changed guidelines for the treatment of fish in laboratories and fisheries in the UK, Europe, and Canada.

Joanna Clark is professor of environmental science at the University of Reading. She works on aspects of carbon and water cycles in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems from test-tube to catchment scale. She is founder and director of the Loddon Observatory, which aims to bring together academia, charities, public sector and business to support sustainable societies.

Patricia 'Pat' Gillian Willmer is an entomologist and ecologist in the UK. She is emeritus professor of zoology at the University of St Andrews and is an expert in pollination.

Richard C. Thompson OBE is a marine biologist who researches marine litter. At the University of Plymouth he is director of the Marine Institute; professor of Marine Biology; and leads the International Marine Litter Research Unit. Thompson coined the term "microplastics" in 2004.

Azra Catherine Hilary Ghani is a British epidemiologist who is a Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London. Her research considers the mathematical modelling of infectious diseases, including malaria, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and coronavirus. She has worked with the World Health Organization on their technical strategy for malaria.

References

  1. "Cambridge Scholars Publishing". www.cambridgescholars.com. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  2. "PROFESSOR AMANDA CALLAGHAN". reading.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 Dec 2019.
  3. Burton, Katie. "Microplastics in mosquitos could contaminate food chains - Geographical Magazine". geographical.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  4. "Rain barrels, wrigglers and rising temperatures bring concern about malaria to urban England". Public Radio International. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  5. Kinver, Mark (2014-05-21). "Mosquitoes moving into UK cities" . Retrieved 2019-12-15.