Dr. Alekos Simoni is a molecular biologist specialising in gene drive and mosquito research. He is currently serving as technical support specialist for Target Malaria UK at Imperial College London.
After completing a degree in molecular biology at the University of Padua in Italy and a PhD at Queen Mary University of London, Alekos joined Professor Crisanti’s laboratory as a Research Associate at Imperial College London in 2011, working on new strategies for controlling the malaria mosquito vector. He first pioneered the development of gene drive in fruit flies, then contributed to the development of gene drive for population control of Anopheles gambiae, the main malaria vector in Africa.
From 2019 to 2023, Alekos was scientific manager of the Polo d’Innovazione Genomica, Genetica e Biologia (Polo GGB), in Terni, Italy, a Target Malaria partner laboratory that plays a central role in evaluating the efficacy and safety of the gene drives for mosquito population control.
Recent media coverage:
- BBC News, ‘Why is this African village letting mosquitoes in?‘
- The Economist, ‘The promise and peril of gene drives‘
