Dr Luc Salako Djogbenou

Senior Lecturer in Universty of Abomey-Calavi, Benin

I have a PhD in Medical Entomology from University of Montpellier, France.  From 2010 to 2012,  I conducted postdoctoral training at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK.  From 2010, I  started establishing laboratory in University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin and current an Associate Professor, head of Health–Environment Department and head of the Laboratory of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases in Institut Régional de Santé Publique/University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin.  

My main research interest activities regroup several aspects related to the control of mosquito vectors of human disease such as Malaria, Lymphatic Filariasis and Dengue. Particularly my research is focused on the understanding of the biology, genetics and genomics of mosquitoes vectors. For several years I worked on the main causes and consequences of insecticide resistance mechanisms on the biology of Anopheles gambiae in West Africa. I primary work on the apparition and the role of acetycholinesterase gene duplication in Anopheles gambiae in West Africa. My work involves five West Africa countries namely Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. My other research interests lies on public health outreach and also investigate how social practices relating to pesticide use by populations in Africa impact sustainable control of Anopheles funestus and Anopheles gambiae s.s. I am currently conducting research to determine the impact of the genetic profile of both vector and parasite on the malaria transmission.  

I am currently the principal investigator of a Wellcome Trust funded project (under LSTM sponsorship) on “the impact of insecticide resistance and exposure on Plasmodium infection level and prevalence in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae” (WT 109917/Z/15/Z grant 02/2016-02/2021). I am also the Co-PI for GCRF Foundation grant (MR/P02520X/1: 2017-2019) and for the DFG Foundation grant (COMAL: 2018-2020). I have previously held grants with the Wellcome Trust, IRD, WHO/TDR, IRDC, AIEA, ANR France, and the MIM. Through these grants, I trained 10 MSc students, 3 PhD students, 1 postdoctoral fellows in the last 10 years in my laboratory in Benin. Since 2012, I am a member of the Benin MNCP’s Technical Expert Group on Malaria Vector Control and insecticide resistance management. 

Research focus:

Study Malaria Parasites-vector interactions that define transmission in Africa

Use of variety of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to identify and validate insecticide resistance associated loci.

Teaching:

I teach on the Masters programmes in Applied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Applied Entomology at University of Abomey-Calavi.

2010- Member of The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)

2010-Member of the Benin MNCP’s Technical Expert Group on Malaria Vector Control and insecticide resistance management.

2011-Member West & Central Africa Community of Practice in Ecosystem Approaches to Health.

Selected publications

  • Sedda L, Lucas ER, Djogbénou LS, Edi AVC, Egyir-Yawson A, Kabula BI, Midega J, Ochomo E, Weetman D, Donnelly MJ. Improved spatial ecological sampling using open data and standardization: an example from malaria mosquito surveillance. J R Soc Interface. 2019 Apr 26;16(153):20180941. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0941. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30966952, PMCID: PMC6505554

    Assogba BS, Alout H, Koffi A, Penetier C, Djogbénou LS, Makoundou P, Weill M, Labbé P. Adaptive deletion in resistance gene duplications in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. Evol Appl. 2018 Mar 25;11(8):1245-1256. doi: 10.1111/eva.12619. eCollection 2018 Sep. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30151037, PMCID: PMC6099818

    Weetman D, Djogbenou LS, Lucas E. Copy number variation (CNV) and insecticide resistance in mosquitoes: evolving knowledge or an evolving problem? Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2018 Jun;27:82-88. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.04.005. Epub 2018 Apr 13. Review. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30025639, PMCID: PMC6056009

    Assogba BS, Milesi P, Djogbénou LS, Berthomieu A, Makoundou P, Baba-Moussa LS, Fiston-Lavier AS, Belkhir K, Labbé P, Weill M. The ace-1 Locus Is Amplified in All Resistant Anopheles gambiae Mosquitoes: Fitness Consequences of Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Duplications. PLoS Biol. 2016 Dec 5;14(12):e2000618. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2000618. eCollection 2016 Dec. PubMed [citation] PMID: 27918584, PMCID: PMC5137868

    Alout H, Dabiré RK, Djogbénou LS, Abate L, Corbel V, Chandre F, Cohuet A. Interactive cost of Plasmodium infection and insecticide resistance in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. Sci Rep. 2016 Jul 19;6:29755. doi: 10.1038/srep29755. PubMed [citation] PMID: 27432257, PMCID: PMC4949420