My name is Edouard (LinkedIn) and I am a PhD student within the Insect Doctors program. I am studying microsporidia and other protist parasites in commercially reared insects.

Website of the Insect Doctors program

There is currently little data on microsporidia and protists infecting reared insects, and few tools to identify new species. My current resaearch aims to provide new genomic data regarding entomopathogenic protists, where there is a clear lack of information regarding some protist parasites (such as gregarines, amoeba…).

I also study the effect of gregarine parasite on its host Acheta domesticus (the house cricket), by studying different life traits of uninfected/infected hosts.

Deliverables of the current project:

• A spreadsheet of all microsporidia and protists from data mining and lab investigation, alongside the primers used for detection, made available as a database.
• A manuscript on protists and microsporidia diversity found within insect hosts and on the risk analysis of microsporidia and protist infection within reared insect species.

• Entomology
• Parasitic Diseases
• Parasitology
• Molecular Diagnostics
• Disease Ecology
• Protist

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• January2019_June2019: Early Stage Researcher at Institut Pierre Richet and Institute of Research for Development (Bouaké, Cote d'Ivoire) Supervisor: Florence FOURNET
  • Studing human and Anopheles gambiae sensu lato through behavioral surveys
  • Analysis of the data collected to measure the human exposure to An. gambiae sl. bites over mathematical models
  • Entomological techniques : sampling mosquito by human bait catches, dissection and morphological and molecular (PCR) identification
• March2019_June2019: Early Stage Researcher at Institute of Research for Development (Montpellier, France). Supervisors: F. CHANDRE and A. PERRIN (Report link: https://revolinc.cirad.fr/outputs-outcomes/students)
  • Preliminary studies of the pathogenic effect of Densoviruses in the context of the development of a biocontrol tool for the tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus.
  • Assessment of high-speed mosquito densovirus production by in vivo methods (infection and
    production in Aedes mosquito larvae)
  • Rearing mosquito larvae
  • Bioassay to determine Letal Dose
  • Control of produced viruses with qPCR
  • Insect Pathology
• April2018_August2018: Early stage researcher at the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (Montpellier, France). Supervisor: P. REYNAUD
  • Participation for the monitoring of Xylella fastidiosa transmitted by Cicadellidae in France
  • Insect dissection and taxonomy
  • Management of insect collections
• 2016_2017: Apprentice at the Regional Federation for Defense against Harmful Organisms. Supervisor: Maryse MERIEAU, Orléans (France)
• 2015_2016: Apprentice at Eurofins Agrosciences services. Supervisor: Angélique DEBETTE, Rouvres Saint Jean (France)