American Committee of Medical Entomology (ACME)

Newsletter Vol 4 Issue 2

Newsletter Vol 4 Issue 1

Newsletter Vol 3 Issue 2

Newsletter Vol 3 Issue 1 

Newsletter Vol 2 Issue 1 

Newsletter Vol 1 Issue 1 

Quick Links

• ACME Objectives
• Charter 
• ACME Travel Awards
• Previous Recipients
• Executive Council Membership
• Hoogstraal Award
• Arthropod Containment Guidelines
• Perspectives 
• Advocacy 
• For More Information

ACME Objectives

The American Committee of Medical Entomology (ACME), is organized under the auspices of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) and exists to work toward the following objectives:

1. To promote medical entomology in the ASTMH and in organizations whose scopes of activities include the area of human diseases transmitted by arthropods
2. To organize symposia or workshops annually that emphasize, but are not limited to, the contributions of medical entomology to tropical medicine
3. To encourage active participation of medical entomologists in the ASTMH
4. To recognize outstanding contributions by medical entomologists
5. ACME meets at least annually in conjunction with the ASTMH annual meeting.

Charter

For details on the ACME charter, governance and membership structure, click here

Leadership Documents

To access Council documents, click here.

2014 ACME Annual Business Meeting Slides

View the ASTMH Clinical Consultants Directory.

Job Postings

USAID Zika Team Leader
Zika Entomology & Vector Control Technical Consultant

Awards and Funding Opportunities

Please note: To share equally among everyone in our tropmed community, only one ASTMH (including the Subgroups) award, travel award, fellowships and/or medal will be awarded to a single recipient in a given year.

Those who receive a Subgroup research/travel award are not eligible to receive an ASTMH-sponsored fellowship or ASTMH Travel Award.

Those who receive an ASTMH Travel Award are not eligible to receive any Subgroup research/travel awards or ASTMH-sponsored fellowships.

Medal recipients are limited to one medal per year.

Hoogstraal Award

The Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology was established in 1987 to recognize the most influential medical entomologists for their contributions to their field. This award is named in honor of Dr. Harry Hoogstraal whose contributions to systematics of medically important arthropods and the diseases they carry are vast. He was described as "the greatest authority on ticks and tickborne diseases who ever lived," and his scientific curiosity and passion for increasing the description of arthropods from remote areas (Philippines, Dutch New Guinea, Mexico, Madagascar, Egypt) led him to describe a mind-blowing number of novel mosquito and tick species. During his lifetime he authored or co-authored more than 500 publications and directed the translation of over 1,800 scientific papers and books (German, Japanese, Chinese, Russian). More than 200 species of organisms have been named in honor of Harry Hoogstraal.

Recipient, Year

Bruce Christensen, 2021
University of Wisconsin- Madison

Stephen Higgs, 2020
Biosecurity Research Institute, Kansas State University

Frank Collins, 2019
University of Notre Dame

Thomas Scott, 2018
University of California Davis

Willem Takken, 2017
Wageningen University

Patricia Nuttall, 2016
University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Durland Fish, 2015
Yale School of Public Health

Robert Lane, 2014
University of California, Berkeley

Barry Beaty, 2013
Colorado State University

William Reisen, 2012
Center for Vectorborne Diseases

Abdu Azad, 2011
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Willy Burgdorfer, 2010
Rocky Mountain Lab

William E. Collins, 2009
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Daniel Sonenshine, 2008
Old Dominion University

Bruce Eldridge, 2007
University of California, Davis

Mario Coluzzi, 2006
Instituto Di Parasitologia, Universita Degli Studi Di Roma

Robert Washino, 2005
University of California, Davis

John D. Edman, 2004
University of California, Davis

Andrew Spielman, 2003
Harvard School of Public Health

Michael Service, 2002
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

No award 2001

Chris Curtis, 2000
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

No award 1999

Gene DeFoliart, 1998
University of Wisconsin, Madison

No award 1997

George B. Craig, Jr., 1996
University of Notre Dame

A. Ralph Barr, 1995

No award 1994

Thomas H. G. Aitken, 1993

James H. Oliver, 1992
Georgia Southern University

William L. Jellison, 1991

William R. Horsfall, 1990

Robert Traub, 1989

Lloyd E. Rozeboom, 1988
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

William C. Reeves, 1987
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

ACME Breakthrough in Medical Entomology Award

ACME seeks to award funding of $1,000 to outstanding recent contributions (within the past 5 years) to the study and/or practice of Medical Entomology that ultimately will contribute to reducing the burden of human diseases transmitted by arthropods. This award is designed to encourage and acknowledge significant advances in the field by investigators at any career stage. Examples of such advances include breakthrough research findings in vector biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, genomics, ecology, evolution or significant advances in technologies for vector surveillance or control.

Nominees/applicants must be a member of ASTMH and ACME. This award is supported by a generous donation from SC Johnson to the American Committee of Medical Entomology. Women are particularly encouraged to apply.

Award Recipients

2019
Stephanie James
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health

2018
Alvaro Molina-Cruz
National Institutes of Health

2017
Zhijian Tu
Virginia Tech

2016
Serap Aksoy
Yale University School of Medicine

ACME Future Leaders Fellowship in International Medical Entomology

The Future Leaders fellowship is a competitive award that will be offered to an outstanding junior medical entomology researcher (must be at the undergraduate to post-doctoral level) to showcase individuals that have matched interests to ACME's objectives of promoting medical entomology and reducing the burden of human diseases transmitted by arthropods globally. Applicants must be a non-US citizen from an LMIC.
 
Up to two awardees will receive $2,000 each to be used towards attending the ASTMH Annual Meeting and/or research supplies. The awardee must present their research at ASTMH and acknowledge the ACME Future Leaders Fellowship in their presentation and when publishing research supported by the fellowship. This award is supported by a generous donation from SC Johnson to the American Committee of Medical Entomology. Women are encouraged to apply.

Award Recipients
2020
Cusi Ferradas
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia

2019
Adélaïde Miarinjara
National Institutes of Health

2018
Mabel Taracena
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala

Puja Tiwary
Banaras Hindu University

2017
Nsa Dada
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Eric Ochomo
Kenya Medical Research Institute

ACME Travel Awards for Young Investigators

ACME now offers three Young Investigator Travel Awards: Masters, Doctoral and Post-doctoral and International. All research must involve arthropods of medical importance. Recipients will receive a complimentary registration to the Annual Meeting and up to $900 to support travel and accomodation costs. 

Award Recipients
2021
Young Investigator Award - Graduate
Kyndall Dye-Braumuller
University of South Carolina

Thomas Syme
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Young Investigator Award - Post Doc
Sara Buezo Monero
Sapienza University of Rome

Lucia Paulina Maldonado-Ruiz
Kansas State University

2020
Young Investigator Award - Graduate
Mary Gebhardt
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Adeline Williams
Colorado State University

Young Investigator Award  - International
Maria Carrasquilla
Universidad de los Andes

Astri Nur Faizah
University of Tokyo

Young Investigator Award - Post Doc
Gabriela Garcia
FIOCRUZ Brazil

Thiago Soares de Souza Vieira
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2019
Young Investigator Award - Graduate
Diana Nyanting'a
Kenya Medical Research Institute

Kristine Werling
Harvard School of Public Health

Young Investigator Award - International
Renee Ali
University of West Indies

Marilyn Murindahabi
University of Rwanda

Young Investigator Award - Post Doc
Deepani Fernando
University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Emily Gallichotte
Colorado State University

2018
Young Investigator Award - Graduate
Leticia Smith
Cornell University

Olivia Winokur
University of California Davis

Young Investigator Award - International
Fabien Aubry
Institut Pasteur

Young Investigator Award - Post Doc
Sarah Merkling
Institut Pasteur

2017
Young Investigator Award - Graduate
Carolyn Hodo
Texas A&M University

Young Investigator Award - International
Om Prakash Singh
Banaras Hindu University

Young Investigator Award - Post Doc
Hannah Romo
Colorado State University

2016
Young Investigator Award - Graduate
Rebecca Love
University of Notre Dame

Young Investigator Award - International
Allan Muhwezi
Makerere University

Young Investigator Award - Post Doc
Laura Dickson

2015
Young Investigator Award - Graduate
Marissa Grossman
Emory University

Bahjat Marayati
University of North Carolina

Young Investigator Award - International
Marlon Saavedra Romero
Asociacion Benefica Prisma, Peru

Young Investigator Award - Post Doc
Claudia Rueckert
Colorado State University

2014
Marta Moreno Leirana
University of California, San Diego

Christina Newman
University of Wisconsin

Margaret Paternina Gomez
University de Sucre

2013
Robert McCann
Michigan State University

2012
Anthony Clemons
University of Notre Dame

2011
Julia Brown
Yale University

2010
Cara Halldin
Case Western Reserve University, Center for Global Health & Disesase

2009
Lauren Cator
Cornell University
Win Surachetpong
University of California, Davis

2008
Nicole Gottdenker
University of Georgia
Meera Venkatesen
Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network

2007
Maria Julia Dantur
INSUE School of Natural Sciences and Miguel Lillo Institute UNT
Lisa Purcell
McGill University

2006
Luca Facchinelli
University of California, Davis
Sonja Kos

2005
Rebekah Kent
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Sharon Minnick
University of California, Davis

Executive Council Membership

Past ACME Executive Council Members

Current ACME Executive Council Members

(date indicates Council term limit)

Arthropod Containment Guidelines (ACG)

The Arthropod Containment Guidelines are an important product of the work ACME does to support and advocate for vector biology research nationally and globally. The guidelines provide a reference for research laboratories to assess risk and establish protocols for the safe handling of arthropod vectors of human and animal disease agents. The guidelines were originally published in 2004 in Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, and have been updated and published in 2019 to reflect the spectrum of vector taxa under investigation, and the demands of working with vector arthropods in the context of the Select Agent Rule.  ACME produced the updated guidelines and supported Open Access in Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, February 2019, Vol 19, No. 3 . 

Perspectives

Perspectives - The idea has been accepted that ACME should take a more active role toward activities that promote the safe and effective conduct of activities in vector biology and disease transmission research. The following resources are intended to provide the ACME membership access to resources related to such efforts.

Considerations for Human Blood-Feeding and Arthropod Exposure in Vector Biology Research: An Essential Tool for Investigations and Disease Control
Harrington LC, Foy BD, Bangs MJ. . Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2020 Sep 9. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2020.2620.

Guidance for Evaluating the Safety of Experimental Releases of Mosquitoes, Emphasizing Mark-Release-Recapture
Techniques
Benedict MQ, Charlwood JD, Harrington LC, Lounibos LP, Reisen WK, Tabachnick WJ. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2018 Jan;18(1):39-48. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2017.2152.

Considerations for the Use of Human Participants in Vector Biology Research: A Tool for Investigators and Regulators 
Achee Nicole L., Youngblood Laura, Bangs Michael J., Lavery James V., and James Stephanie. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. February 2015, 15(2): 89-102. doi:10.1089/vbz.2014.1628.

The Science of Science Communication

Know of a resource that you would like ACME to consider for broader awareness? Please contact Alvaro Molina-Cruz, ACME Secretary/Treasurer.

Advocacy

Advocacy - The ACME is committed to advocating the role of medical entomology in public health, both domestic and abroad. This includes raising awareness of research issues with policy makers, highlighting the importance of research and making specific funding requests for areas of concern or minimal focus. The following resources are intended to provide the ACME membership access to resources related to such efforts.

Top Ten Rules for Working with Congress 

ACME Members Visit the Hill 

Know of an important issue that you would like ACME to consider as part of its advocacy efforts? Please contact Ellen Dotson, ACME Chair.

For More Information

For more information on ACME, contact Buffy Finn, Manager, Membership.