Entomologist Elected to National Academy of Sciences
IIGB Researcher, Center for Disease Vector Research (CDVR) founding director and Professor of Entomology, Dr. Alexander Raikhel has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Raikhel has performed pioneering work on the biochemistry and molecular biology of egg production and immunity in mosquitoes and the outcomes of his research program have greatly increased entomologists' understanding of these physiological processes of this important medical pest. His laboratory has used genetic tools such as RNAi and transgenesis to dissect the biochemical pathways underlying these processes and in doing so has illustrated to many mosquito researchers that mosquitoes can be subjected to the same biochemical and genetic analyses as model organisms such as Drosophila.
Dr. Raikhel joined UCR in 2002 and established the Center for Disease Vector Research and played a major role in the establishment of this Center on the second floor of the new Genomics Building.
For additional information, please visit UCR's press release dated 4/28/09