The Irish Society for Parasitology organises a vibrant annual meeting for parasitologists to come together and share their research and build collaborations. The 2023 Annual Meeting of the Irish Society for Parasitology was hosted by Munster Technological University in Tralee. Each year Cambridge University Press (the publishers of Parasitology) sponsor The Prof. William C. Campbell Postgraduate Award, so named after the Nobel Laureate scientist who was involved in the discovery of the ivermectins, a class of anthelmintics. The award is given to the postgraduate student who delivers the best presentation at the annual meeting. This year, Angela Valcarcel, who is doing her PhD at University College Dublin, was the winner of the award. Angela’s research entails monitoring networks of insect vectors and vector-borne diseases in Ireland. Angela introduces herself and her research below.

My story with parasites starts early because both my parents are parasitologists. I remember as a child listening to parasite life cycles in between fairy tales and having tubes filled with ticks among my toys. This kindled my curiosity in parasitology and the biological sciences in general. Eventually I obtained a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences but with close ties to the Parasitology Department. I also continued studying parasites with ectoparasites (more specifically mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and flies) and the diseases they transmit as vectors my main focus of interest.

After finishing my degree in Madrid in 2021, I was delighted to find the opportunity to start a PhD in Ireland studying mosquitoes and biting midges. I was familiar with Ireland as I spent several holidays here, so I accepted the offer without hesitation. I am just starting into my second year and so far the experience has been great.

While this is probably not the accepted general opinion, when studied closely, midges and mosquitoes are actually very beautiful. The accuracy of midges’ wings spots or the delicacy of mosquitoes’ bristle sensillae is striking. And while there have been a couple of studies of biting midges in Ireland, mosquitoes are largely understudied, presenting an exciting opportunity to fill knowledge gaps.

Although I have only been studying these flies for a year, the experience has been very enjoyable. The fieldtrips are rewarding and fun, lab work is intense and enriching and the team is simply great. We still have a long way to go, but so far our data looks very promising! We have collected biting midges around the country and mosquitoes on the northern part, with more sampling to be done next year.

While biting midges and mosquitoes occur all across the island, the species distribution varies quite significantly. Data collected so far indicate that around 80% to 90% of the midge species caught in each site are competent vectors of important livestock viruses, such as Bluetongue Virus and Schmallenberg virus. With regard to mosquitoes records dating from the 1980’s indicate the presence of species that are known vectors for diseases such as West Nile Virus, Malaria, etc. We aim to determine the current species distribution which can be used as a baseline for future studies. Finally, we hope that the establishment of a collaborative network for biting midges and mosquitoes will support future surveillance activities.

I am convinced that ongoing research into vectors and vector-borne diseases is urgently needed as their distribution is likely to change due to global change and I very much hope I can make a contribution to this effort!