Dr Rosemary Susan Lees

Principal Research Associate

Rosemary Lees obtained a BSc in Biological Sciences from Warwick University in 2004, and a DPhil in Zoology from Jesus College, Oxford in 2008. Her doctoral research focussed on developing transgenic strains of Aedes aegypti for vector control, then analysing their induced gene expression and phenotype and assessing the competitiveness of larvae and of adult males.
This interest in male mating biology developed during an FP7 Marie Curie fellowship looking at proxy indicators of mating success in Anopheles gambiae, and informed later work developing and overseeing Sterile Insect Technique projects for Aedes and Anopheles control in various parts of the world for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Research

Research at LSTM focuses on the development and standardisation of bioassays to monitor insecticide resistance in mosquito vectors of disease and to test novel active ingredients as they are developed, for example those arising from IVCC. Work will also address the demand for novel behavioural assays to investigate behavioural, non-lethal effects of insecticides alongside the traditional methods for measuring mortality after exposure.

Research at LSTM, through her position as Methods Lead for Innovation to Impact (I2I), focuses on the development and standardisation of bioassays to monitor insecticide resistance in mosquito vectors of disease and to test novel active ingredients as they are developed, for example those arising from IVCC. There is a demand for novel behavioural assays to investigate novel, non-lethal effects of insecticides alongside the traditional methods for measuring mortality after exposure. Consensus building around standardised methodologies is important to increase the robustness of data and improve decision making for deployment of vector control tools. This was the subject of a recent special issue of Insects titled ‘Insecticides for Mosquito Control: Strengthening the Evidence Base ’.

Recent publications: 

    Selected publications

    • Developing Consensus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to Evaluate New Types of Insecticide-Treated Nets (2022). Natalie Lissenden, Jennifer S. Armistead, Katherine Gleave, Seth R. Irish, Jackline L. Martin, Louisa A. Messenger, Sarah J. Moore, Corine Ngufor, Natacha Protopopoff, Richard Oxborough, Angus Spiers and Rosemary S. Lees. Insects 13(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13010007.

      A testing cascade to identify repurposed insecticides for next-generation vector control tools: screening a panel of chemistries with novel modes of action against a malaria vector [version 2; peer review: 3 approved] (2019). Rosemary Lees, Giorgio Praulins, Rachel Davies, Faye Brown, George Parsons, Anthony White, Hilary Ranson, Graham Small, David Malone. Gates Open Research 3:1464 (https://doi.org/10.12688/gatesopenres.12957.2(link is external)(opens in a new tab))

      Review and Meta-Analysis of the Evidence for Choosing between Specific Pyrethroids for Programmatic Purposes Lissenden, Natalie, Kont, Mara, Essandoh, John, Ismail, Hanafy, Churcher, Thomas, Lambert, Ben, Lenhart, Audrey, McCall, Philip, Moyes, Catherine, Paine, Mark, Praulins, Giorgio, Weetman, David and Lees, Rosemary (2021) 'Review and Meta-Analysis of the Evidence for Choosing between Specific Pyrethroids for Programmatic

      New insecticide screening platforms indicate that Mitochondrial Complex I inhibitors are susceptible to cross-resistance by mosquito P450s that metabolise pyrethroids Lees, Rosemary, Ismail, Hanafy, Logan, Rhiannon, Malone, David, Davies, Rachel, Anthousi, Amalia, Adolfi, Adriana, Lycett, Gareth and Paine, Mark (2020) 'New insecticide screening platforms indicate that Mitochondrial Complex I inhibitors are susceptible to cross-resistance by mosquito P450s that metabolise pyrethroids'. Scientific Reports, Vol 10, p. 16232.

      Benchmarking vector arthropod culture: an example using the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) (2016). Laura Valerio, C. Matilda Collins, Rosemary Susan Lees and Mark Q. Benedict. Malaria Journal 15: 262.

      Back to the future: the sterile insect technique against mosquito disease vectors (2015). Rosemary Susan Lees, Jeremie RL Gilles, Jorge Hendrichs, Marc JB Vreysen and Kostas Bourtzis. Current Opinion in Insect Science. 10: 156–162.

      Potential Impact of Integrating the Sterile Insect Technique into the Fight against Disease-Transmitting Mosquitoes (2021). R. S. Lees, D. O. Carvalho, J. Bouyer. In Sterile Insect Technique: Principles and practice in area-wide integrated pest management. 2nd Edition. CRC Press.

      Late-acting Dominant Lethal Genetic Systems and Mosquito Control (2007). Phuc HK, Andreasen MH, Burton RS, Vass C, Epton MJ, Pape G, Fu G, Condon KC, Scaife S, Donnelly CA, Coleman PG, White-Cooper H, Alphey L. BMC Biology 5:11.

      Open Field Release of Genetically Engineered Sterile Male Aedes aegypti in Malaysia (2012). Renaud Lacroix, Andrew R. McKemey, Norzahira Raduan, Lim Kwee Wee, Wong Hong Ming, Teoh Guat Ney, Siti Rahidah A.A., Sawaluddin Salman, Selvi Subramaniam, Oreenaiza Nordin, Norhaida Hanum A.T., Chandru Angamuthu, Suria Marlina Mansor, Rosemary S. Lees, et al. PLoS ONE 7(8): e42771.

      Review: Improving our knowledge of male mosquito biology in relation to genetic control programmes (2013). Lees R.S., Knols B., Bellini R., Benedict M.Q., Bheecarry A., Bossin H.C., Chadee D.D., Charlwood J., Dabiré R.K., Djogbenou L., Egyir-Yawson A., Gato R., Gouagna L.C., Hassan M.M., Khan S.A., Koekemoer L.L., Lemperiere G., Manoukis N.C., Mozuraitis R., Pitts R.J., Simard F., Gilles J.