Contribute to research in vector borne diseases through the De Vos-Thijssen Vector Borne Diseases Fund

The ‘De Vos-Thijssen Fund’ is making 15,000 Euro available for researchers of Wageningen University & Research. The fund focuses on supporting research and education into (biological control of) human and animal diseases transmitted by vectors. The fund has a specific interest in research on ticks, but proposals on research into other relevant vector related topics can also be submitted.

Budget can be requested for:
additional research costs, e.g. additional to a PhD project that is already ongoing, and is meant to deliver clear additional results, such as extra lab measurements, extra field research or an educational component. With the added budget, the ongoing research should be brought to a higher level and deliver concrete results.

The fund contributes only to costs that cannot immediately be financed in another way.

Format:

• Researchers can submit a request for funding through the template, which you can download below.
• The budget should range between 7.500 and 15.000 Euro.
• The proposal can be sent to Maruscha Clarke (maruscha.clarke@wur.nl) before 1 November 2021.
• The proposal should include a brief description of the context/problem definition, aim of the project, (experimental) approach and a budget of the required finances.
• Projects are supposed to be executed before 31 December 2022.

Depending on the nature and size of the submitted project proposals, one or more projects will be selected. The Curatorium of the Fund will decide on the selection of the proposed projects.

On June 1st 2020, a winner was chosen for the call for proposals from Fonds de Vos-Thijssen by the members of the curatorium; Mr. de Vos and Mrs. Thijssen, Sander Koenraad, Fred de Boer and Mart de Jong.

The winning project “Risky nights? Real-time monitoring of mosquito activity in the Netherlands" was submitted by Rody Blom MSc. and Dr. Jeroen Spitzen, both working in the One Health Entomology Group, in the Laboratory of Entomology. The project aims to measure the activity of mosquitoes using the BG Counter. This can be placed on mosquito traps, separating mosquitoes from other insects and at the same time measuring environmental factors such as light, temperature and humidity. Doing this for a year can provide a good picture of the activity of mosquitoes through the seasons. The beauty of this project is that all data goes through the cloud and can provide input for platforms such as mosquito radar and other warning systems. The project is also supplementary to an existing project “One Health-PACT consortium” to which various universities are affiliated. The general public are also asked to report to the mosquito radar so that these data can also be included in the analyzes concerning the activity of mosquitoes. The project will initially take place around Wageningen, so that the traps can be visited daily, but may possibly extend to other parts of the Netherlands. Possibilities for this are being mapped out.

The grant of 15,000 euros is spent, among other things, on the purchase of the measuring instruments, which can also be used again in other projects.

The De Vos-Thijssen Vector Borne Diseases Fund supports research related to vector borne diseases. These are diseases which are transmitted by a vector, for instance an insect, from one animal to another or to humans.

Malaria, which is transmitted by so called Anopheles mosquitoes, is the vector borne disease which causes the most deaths worldwide, especially amongst children under five. The disease costs African societies around 12 billion dollars annually due to, for instance, increased healthcare costs and decreased agricultural productivity. Besides malaria, there are many other vector borne diseases, such as bilharzia and dengue fever.

A great deal of research is dedicated to combating the diseases. However, little research is conducted on the vectors themselves. Wageningen University and Research has considerable experience in the area of disease ecology, with a focus on the ecology of vectors and how to control the vectors in the most efficient way. Research supported by the fund can make a significant contribution to preventing the transition of diseases.

• Dhr. C.M. (Clemens) de Vos
• Ms. D. (Ditsy) Thijssen
• Prof. dr. ir. M.C.M. (Mart) de Jong - Quantitative Veterinary Epidemiology, Wageningen University
• Dr. C.J.M. (Sander) Koenraadt - Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University
• Dr. W.F. (Fred) de Boer - Resource Ecology Group, Wageningen University

• Interview Wageningen World 02-2019