Daniel McDermott

PhD Student - MRC Doctoral Training Programme in Global Health

I received BA in Zoology from Trinity College Dublin in 2016, during which time I worked on the deployment of novel parasite control technique in aquaculture. Following this, I gained an MSc in the Molecular Biology of Parasites and Disease Vectors at LSTM, before spending a year as a research assistant for the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) evaluating the potential of new vector control tools in Sub-Saharan Africa.

From there I progressed onto the MRC Doctoral Training Programme, jointly run by LSTM and Lancaster University.

Through this programme, I have completed an MRes in Global Health: translational and quantitative skills at Lancaster University and I am currently in the first year of a three year PhD with the Donnelly Group in LSTM.

My research interest is centred on the use of entomological data in the initial and ongoing evaluation in vector control tools and the relationship that exists between entomological and epidemiological metrics of malaria transmission in different settings. The focus of my work is the generation of robust entomological data using model-based approaches to utilise existing environmental and previous collection data to inform future trapping strategies. I am also interested in the study design of vector control field trials and the role that entomological monitoring plays in the evaluation of new control tools, particularly the viability of the new intervention beyond the trial study area.