Host organisation: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), UK
Project title: Hybrid zone dynamics and causes in the Anopheles gambiae species pair from the western edge of their species range
Dr El Hadji Niang is an early-career medical entomologist who did his PhD from 2010 to 2014 on sub-speciation in the major malaria vector Anopheles gambiae in Senegal.
He has benefitted from several international research and teaching activities and a research associate position at the University of Dakar. Most recently, he worked for the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Swaziland, providing support to improve the National Malaria Control Programme entomological surveillance activities through capacity building, training and mentoring of programme staff and developing training materials and tools for programmatic use in the field.
AREF Fellowship research project:
With the Fellowship and support from his sponsor organisations, he aimed to: build new capacities in advanced molecular biology techniques and molecular genetic data analysis; improve his skill in grant writing and scientific communication; and widen his research networks to strengthen his research skills portfolio. At the end of the fellowship he and his partners submitted a research proposal to the funding organisations already identified.