Congratulations to the MARCAD Postdoctoral fellow Dr Ousmane Sy for wining a grant of “Science and Language Mobility Scheme Africa

Dr Ousmane Sy’s project titled ‘’ Structuration génétique des populations d’Anopheles melas de la région sénégambienne ‘’ << Genetic structuring of Anopheles melas populations across the Senegambian region >> has been selected for funding as part of the Science and Language Mobility Scheme Africa (SLM) grant a five-year programme led by the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA).

“As part of our general postdoctoral research program, we focus on one of the members of the Anopheles gambiae complex, Anopheles melas, which plays a role as a local (secondary) vector in malaria transmission in the coastal

environment because of its adaptation to brackish water. In this context, our objective is to evaluate the role of this species in malaria transmission in the areas it colonizes, to study the genetic structuring as well as the status of its natural populations towards insecticides used in public health, and finally to identify any possible resistance mechanisms at home’’ explained, Doctor Ousmane Sy.

Thanks to the Science and Language Mobility Scheme Africa (SLM) grant, UCAD Marcad postdoctoral fellow Ousmane Sy will travel for 5 months in MRC unit the Gambia in LSHTM to work on his project together with the MRC MARCAD fellow in Gambia.

Doctor Sy chose to realize his research in the Gambia because that according to him, The Gambia is in the same geographical context as Senegal ‘’Our study could be extended to the Gambian coastal zone to generate better information on this species along the Senegambian coast. This subregional approach should provide useful information for the development of common and more effective prevention strategies for the elimination of malaria in the eligible areas of the Senegambian subregion’’ he assumed.

The Science and Language Mobility Scheme Africa (SLM) grant, targets and funds Anglophone and Francophone African researchers with the aim to break the language barrier; so, these researchers will undertake scientific research in language regions other than their own. This will help to increase intra-Africa research collaboration between English and French-speaking African scientists and to allow scientists to learn from each other and to better address the health and development challenges the continent is facing.