Dr Tibebu Habtewold Elkamo

Biography

Dr. Tibebu Habtewold is a Senior Lecturer at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and internationally recognized malaria vector biologist with over 20 years of experience. He led the development of the first transgenic mosquitoes created and tested on African soil—an unprecedented milestone in genetic malaria control—and established a CL3 gene-editing laboratory at the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania. This facility enabled local scientists to study genetically modified malaria vectors under secure containment and was pivotal to a landmark 2026 Nature publication demonstrating suppression of patient-derived malaria infections by gene-drive mosquitoes. Currently, he leads the Vector Biology group at the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Centre, where he established advanced insectaries and trains scientists in vector ecology and genetics. His leadership contributed to securing major grants, including the $21 million Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation award, advancing gene drive technologies for scalable malaria control across Africa. He is deeply committed to mentoring scientists and building research capacity in low- and middle-income countries.

Selected research publications

Adapting Africa’s vector surveillance systems to monitor gene-drive mosquitoes in malaria control – Journal: Trends In Parasitology – Published: 13th April 2026

Gene-drive-capable mosquitoes suppress patient-derived malaria in Tanzania – Journal: Nature – Published: 10th December 2025

Additional blood meals increase sporozoite infection in Anopheles mosquitoes but not Plasmodium falciparum genetic diversity – Journal: Scientific Reports – Published: 29th July 2024

Considerations for first field trials of low-threshold gene drive for malaria vector control – Journal: Malaria Journal – Published: 22nd May 2024

A chromosomal reference genome sequence for the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, Giles, 1902, Ifakara strain – Journal: Wellcome Open Research – Published: 13th March 2023

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