Brief Speaker Biographies:
The following individuals will have a participatory role at the 13 March, 2016 Summit on controlling Aedes aegypti in Maceió, Brazil. The Entomological Society of America (ESA) can assist on coordinating media interview requests with these individuals at the Summit. Prior to the Summit, please contact Richard Levine, ESA’s Communications Program Manager (+1-011-301-731-4535, x3009) to schedule media interviews. Onsite, contact Richard through the registration desk.

To access a PDF of the speaker list (including photos), please click here

Roberto Barrera
Dr. Barrera is currently employed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where he is critical to the organization’s success in Puerto Rico, where he resides. He is a subject editor for the Journal of Medical Entomology and publishes frequently on a variety of public health topics, including a 2015 article entitled Dengue and Chikungunya vector control: Is it necessary to re-examine present strategies?  Dr. Barrera is scheduled to participate on a panel discussion entitled Agency and NGO Perspectives.

Jamie Blow, BCE
Dr. Blow is a Board Certified Entomologist and serves as the Director at the Armed Forces Pest Management Board, stationed at Forest Glen Annex, Maryland (USA) where she is responsible for policy development, setting the strategic direction, and providing technical oversight for all US Department of Defense Pest Management activities. In the course of her career she has amassed over 24 years as a US Army entomologist. She received her PhD from Michigan State University. Dr. Blow will participate on a panel discussion entitled Agency and NGO Perspectives.

Grayson C. Brown
Dr. Brown is a former president (2012) of the Entomological Society of America and is the current director of the the University of Kentucky’s Public Health Entomology Laboratory. His work involves researching mosquitoes in urban and suburban environments and evaluating and developing techniques to manage them. He is especially recognized for his work contributing to the development and registration of spinosad-based mosquito larvicides. He is a co-Chair of this Summit. Dr. Brown will speak during the Statement of the Problem portion of the agenda. He will also be the content expert for the breakout session on Implementation Needs.

Carlos F. Campelo de A. e Melo
Dr. Melo is the National Consultant on Dengue for PAHO and is based in Brasília, Brazil. He has extensive experience in the management of vector-borne diseases throughout his career of working with the Brazilian Ministry of Health, PAHO-WHO, and as a technical advisor to the National Program for Dengue Control. Dr. Melo will speak during the Statement of the Problem portion of the agenda.

Brenda Campos
Ms. Campos is a global leader in communication for development and behavior change communication. She is currently the Director of International Programs for PCI Media Impact. With ten years of hands-on experience in the design, management and implementation of Entertainment-Education and social marketing strategies in the US and over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, she has a deep understanding of different cultural contexts. Ms. Campos will provide the closing keynote address.

Margareth Capurro
Dr. Capurro is an associate professor in the Department of Parasitology at the University of São Paulo, where she also received her PhD in biological sciences. She has published widely on transgenic insects, dengue, malaria, and is currently working on several novel techniques aimed at controlling Aedes aegypti and other disease vectors. Dr. Capurro will present during the Challenge Areas portion of the program and will speak about transgenic mosquitoes.

Giovanini E. Coelho
Dr. Coelho is a PhD in Epidemiology and the Coordinator of the National Dengue Control Program for the Brazilian Ministry of Health. He is also a member of Dengue Prevention in the Americas Board (AmDPB) from the International Vaccine Institute and acts on the following subjects: dengue, epidemiological surveillance, outbreak investigation and vector control. He is known as an expert on vector control disease and speaks frequently on Aedes aegypti control. Dr. Coelho will speak during the Statement of the Problem portion of the agenda.

Mustapha Debboun, BCE
Dr. Debboun is a Board Certified Medical and Veterinary entomologist for Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services (HCPHES) in Houston, Texas (USA). After 25 years of service in the US military, he recently joined HCPHES as the new Mosquito & Vector Control Division Director. He is an expert in the research and development of insect repellents and the development of personal protective measures. Dr. Debboun will present during the Challenge Areas portion of the program and will speak about implementation needs. He will also help to facilitate the breakout session on the same topic.

Stephen Dobson
Dr. Dobson is a full professor at the University of Kentucky (UK) where he teaches on medical and livestock entomology. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University and has written widely on Aedes control topics. Recently he authored a paper entitled Male mosquitoes as vehicles for insecticide. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Dobson is also the president of MosquitoMate, a privately held biotechnology firm which is founded on intellectual property developed at UK by Dr Dobson and others. Dr. Dobson will present during the Challenge Areas portion of the program and will speak about Non-transgenic suppression of vector mosquitoes.

C. David Gammel, CAE
Mr. C. David Gammel is the Executive Director of the Entomological Society of America. Gammel is a recognized thought leader in the U.S. association industry and currently serves on the boards of directors for the American Society of Association Executives and the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives. Prior to working with ESA, Gammel was a consultant and served as an executive at major health care and business associations in the U.S. Mr. Gammel will participate in the panel discussion entitled “Model for Interaction and Next Steps.”

Angela Harris
Dr. Harris is a program officer for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the Neglected Tropical Diseases team where she assumes the lead for their vector control investments. Previously she served as a vector biologist with the Mosquito Research and Control Unit for the Cayman Islands government, and as a project manager for the first ever Aedes based RIDL field trials while studying for her PhD. Dr. Harris is scheduled to participate on a panel discussion entitled Agency and NGO Perspectives.

Paula Macedo
Dr. Macedo is the Laboratory Director for the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District and attends the Summit as the representative from SYMVCD as well as on behalf of the American Mosquito Control Association where she is a long-term member. She has authored many papers on vector control and received her PhD in medical entomology from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Macedo will participate in the panel discussion entitled “Model for Interaction and Next Steps” and help moderate the breakout session on implementation needs.

Ademir Martins
Dr. Martins is a Public Health researcher for the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, based in Rio de Janeiro. He received his PhD from the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz where a recent project is entitled Spatio-temporal variation in pyrethroid resistance of Aedes aegypti from the cross-border region of Brazil and France: improving our knowledge on insecticide resistance dynamics. Dr. Martins will present during the Challenge Areas portion of the program and will speak about Chemical control and resistance.

Luciano Moreira
Dr. Moreira is research scientist of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). He is the lead investigator of the Eliminate Dengue: Brazil Challenge, which is working on ways to reduce or eliminate the transmission of dengue. Since 2012 he and his colleagues have worked with scientists from Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Colombia on using Wolbachia bacteria to suppress dengue transmission by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. He is a co-Chair of this Summit. Dr. Moreira will speak during the Statement of the Problem portion of the agenda. He will also be the content expert for the breakout session on Research Needs.

Pedro Neves
Professor Neves is the current (2016) President of the Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil (SEB). He is employed by the Universidade Estadual de Londrina is main research projects are with Insects Microbial Control. Dr. Neves will deliver opening and closing remarks to the Summit.

John Pickett
Professor Pickett is the current (2016) President of the Royal Entomological Society (RES) and is based in the United Kingdom. Trained as an organic chemist, he is the Michael Elliott Fellow at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, England and he is a world authority on semiochemicals in insect behavior and plant defense, and plays a leading role in the move away from the traditional use of wide-spectrum pesticides to more precise control through compounds targeted against specific pests at crucial stages in their life cycles. Professor Pickett will participate in the panel discussion entitled “Model for Interaction and Next Steps.”

Fabiano Pimenta
Mr. Pimenta is the Municipal Health Secretary for Belo Horizonte, Brazil’s sixth largest city. Prior to that he was the National Health Surveillance Secretary for the city of Brasilia. His broad training and experiences in epidemiology, endemic diseases control, and other public health topics promise to make his an educational and entertaining presentation. Mr. Pimenta will give the opening keynote address at the Summit.

Phil Torres
Mr. Torres is an entomologist, television host, photographer, explorer, and broadcast news reporter. Most recently he served as the lead host for the science television show TechKnow on Al Jazeera America. His science research and reporting have sent him around the world, including two years based in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon. He received a degree in entomology from Cornell University and tweets at @phil_torres. Mr. Torres will moderate two sessions. The first will be the report out from the breakout sessions. Immediately at the conclusion of that segment he will moderate the panel discussion entitled “Agency and NGO Perspectives.”

Denise Valle
Dr. Valle received her PhD, Masters, and Bachelor’s degrees in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She did post-doctorate work in developmental biology at the University Paul Sabatier and is currently employed by the Oswaldo Cruz Institute. Dr. Valle is scheduled to participate on a panel discussion entitled Agency and NGO Perspectives.

Frank Zalom
Dr. Zalom is a past president of the ESA (2014) and currently serves as a Professor of Entomology and Extension Entomologist at the University of California-Davis, where he earned his Ph.D. and now teaches and conducts integrated pest management (IPM) research. A national leader in IPM, Dr. Zalom has served as Co-Chair of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) National IPM Committee since 1999. He has authored almost 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books, and served on the USAID Board of Directors for the IPM Collaborative Research Support Program from 2001-2005. Dr. Zalom will participate in the panel discussion entitled “Model for Interaction and Next Steps” in addition to providing opening and closing remarks to the Summit.