Flaminia Catteruccia, PhD

Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

 

Flaminia Catteruccia is Professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the study of the molecular basis of reproductive biology in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, the major malaria vectors, and of the factors that shape the development of the malaria parasite in the mosquito vector. Her research program integrates basic molecular biology investigations with high-impact translational studies.

Professor Catteruccia earned a bachelor’s degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Rome La Sapienza in Italy and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Imperial College London in the UK, where she achieved the first genetic manipulation of Anopheles. She has made unique and fundamental contributions to the field of mosquito research in the area of developing transformative genetic tools, and by applying these tools to the study of mosquito mating behavior and reproductive biology. Her more recent studies at Harvard are expanding our understanding of the biology of Plasmodium parasite transmission by the Anopheles vector and are leading to the generation of novel tools to aid malaria elimination. Her work has a strong field component in a number of African countries to confirm and expand the laboratory findings of her research group. In recognition for her contributions and potential, Professor Catteruccia was awarded the prestigious and highly competitive Faculty Scholar Award jointly sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Between 2006 and 2011 Professor Catteruccia held a Medical Research Council Career Development fellowship at Imperial College London. She is a member of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA.