Prof. Lucy W. Irungu has conducted research in the area of vector biology and control, with special reference to malaria vectors and other vectors and parasites of Neglected Tropical Diseases.
In addition, she has supervised Twenty Five (25) M.Sc. and Fifteen (15) Ph.D students to date. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals.
Ongoing Research Projects
- Larval Ecology of Malaria Vectors in Western Kenya – the population dynamics of Anopheles gambiae and their interaction with other aquatic fauna
- The Effects of insecticide-treated nets (ITNS) on mosquito behaviour and survival in Western Kenya.
- Identification and Distribution of the Natural Enemies ( Predacious Mites ) Inhabiting Coffee in the Major Production Areas in Kenya
- Evaluation of Livestock Keeper-based netting Technology for Protection of Smallholder‟s Zero-grazed Dairy Cows against Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis in Mwea, Mbeere District, Kenya.
- Country Director for the Below Ground Biodiversity Programme.
- Mapping of Risk Factors for Visceral Leishamaniasis Transmission and the potential of Biological Control in Kenya.
Previous Research Projects
- Investigations on Phlebotomine sandfly vectors of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in Kenya.
- Poultry Helminthiasis in Kenya.
Other Research Experience
1977-1978 Carried out a 6 months research project as a requirement for the
3.1.1. option in Zoology and submitted a dissertation entitled “The Development and migration of Trypanosoma brucei in Glossina morsitans“.
1979 Carried out a research project for which I wrote and submitted a dissertation entitled “A taxonomic redescription of Lu longipalpis and the effect of pH on acceptability of sugar solution to laboratory bred Lulongipalpis“, for the award of MSc degree of the University of Liverpool, U.K.
1979/1980: Spent 5 months at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the British Museum during which time I gained experience in:
- Laboratory and other methods of colonizing sandflies.
- Taxonomy of Kenyan sandflies
- Experimental laboratory transmission experiments.
- Blood meal identification
- Fluorescent marking of sandflies for mark/recapture techniques used in dispersal studies.
- Studies based on isoenzyme and electrophoretic methods for differentiation of sandflies from Brazil.
1980/81 Conducted research on the vectors of Leishmaniasis in Kenya, this included Laboratory and field studies.
1981/1984 | Conducted research on the physiology and genetics of the Culex pipiens complex, mainly investigating the susceptibility and refractoriness of the above complex to different filarial worms. I wrote a thesis entitled “Studies and development of filaria in mosquitoes”.
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1985/1987 | Carried out research on vector parasite relationships between |