Sylvie Manguin, winner of the Académie des Sciences' Tremplin ASEAN award
Sylvie Manguin, Research Director atIRD, medical and molecular entomologist at UMR Hydrosciences Montpellier, is the 2023 winner of the ASEAN Springboard Prize for her research on innovative approaches to the study of simian malaria transmission in endemic areas of Thailand, in collaboration with Prof. Theeraphap Chareonviriyaphap, Kasetsart University, Bangkok (Thailand).
PRIORITY RESEARCH PROJECT
Internationally recognized for her work, Sylvie Manguin studies vector-borne diseases in Southeast Asia and Africa and the development of environmentally-friendly vector control methods. She coordinates and participates in European, international and national projects on mosquitoes and their role in pathogen transmission (malaria, dengue fever).
In 2004, she began a collaboration with Theeraphap Chareonviriyaphap, Professor at Kasetsart University in Bangkok. "Our shared interests in the study of pathogen vectors, in particular mosquitoes carrying malaria parasites or dengue, chikungunya and other arboviruses, have enabled us to forge a solid relationship based on esteem and trust", explains Sylvie Manguin. It's a relationship that has enabled some thirty students (Masters, PhD) from Thai universities to train in the laboratory in Montpellier, and several of them to complete PhDs under the joint supervision of Kasetsart University and the University of Montpellier. Thanks to Sylvie Manguin's 20 years of teaching Thai students, she was awarded the title of Associate Professor at Kasetsart University in 2023.
The research project which won the Académie des Sciences award focuses on the prevalence of simian malaria in areas with macaque populations. It has been identified as a priority area of study for Thailand in a context of increasing simian malaria transmission in Southeast Asia. Its main objective is to assess the threat of this zoonosis to the human population in Thailand. One line of research aims to determine which species of Anopheles mosquitoes are capable of transmitting simian parasites to humans. Another will be to control these vectors using vector control methods based on natural molecule-based repellents to protect the population from outdoor bites.
"We aim to explore, in a "One Health" context , the biological characteristics of vectors and the transmission dynamics of simian malaria, in order to facilitate the elimination of malaria in Thailand, scheduled for 2024", emphasizes Sylvie Manguin.
ASEAN SPRINGBOARD PRIZE
Supported by the Académie des Sciences and the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Tremplin ASEAN prize rewards outstanding scientific cooperation between France and the ASEAN region (Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam).