Dr. Matthew B. Thomas

Professor and Director of the Invasion Science Research Institute

I have held tenured positions at Imperial College London, CSIRO in Australia, the Centre for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Department of Entomology at Penn State University, and served as Director of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute at the University of York in the UK. In September 2022 I returned to the US to join the Entomology and Nematology Department at the University of Florida and take up an exciting new challenge to develop an interdisciplinary Invasion Science Research Institute.

• Research

  I have around 30 years’ experience researching a wide range of projects and problems on the ecology and control of insects and diseases. The work has encompassed a range of techniques and approaches from detailed studies in the laboratory through to large-scale field experiments in both temperate and tropical settings. Also important is a strong linkage between empirical and theoretical approaches. In the last 15+ years a major research focus has been the role of environmental factors (e.g. climate change, urbanization and insecticide resistance) in the dynamics and distribution of vector-borne diseases. This basic science has been complemented by an ongoing research program investigating the development of novel chemical and biological tools for control of malaria mosquitoes, and urban pests such as bed bugs.

Contact

PO Box 110620
Steinmetz Hall (Bldg #970)
1881 Natural Area Drive
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
(352) 273-3928
matthewthomas1@ufl.edu

• Education
  • PhD Ecological Entomology, University of Southampton, UK 1991
• Honors
  • Honorary Professor, Department of Biology, University of York, UK (July 2022).
  • Elected Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (Nov 2021).
  • Elected Fellow of the Entomological Society of America (2016).
  • Selected for the Storer Lectureship in Life Sciences, UC Davis (March 2016).
  • Alex & Jessie Black Award for Research Excellence, Penn State (2012).
  • Elected AAAS Fellow (2012).
  • Honorary Professor, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa (2010-2013).
  • Joint recipient of CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement (2007).
  • Selected as a Griswold Lecturer by Cornell University (2005).
• Google Scholar Publications

  Google Scholar

• Recent Services
  • Invited participant for WHO Technical Consultation on use of economics in Insecticide Resistance Management for malaria vector control (Sept 2021).
  • Review member for Wellcome Trust International Fellowships Committee (2021).
  • Invited expert for WHO consultation to review results of the multi-centre study on determination of insecticide discriminating concentrations for monitoring of resistance in mosquitoes (WHO, 15–18 December 2020).
  • Invited guest editor of PLoS Biology collection on “Climate Change and Infectious Disease (published Nov 2020).
  • Co-Chair of External Scientific Advisory Group of the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (https://www.ivcc.com/) (ongoing).
  • Member of expert working group on SIT-based interventions for control of Aedes mosquitoes and Aedes-borne diseases, jointly supported by the IAEA and the TDR/WHO and NTD/WHO Departments (https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331679/9789240002371-eng.pdf).
  • Review Panel member for German Research Foundation (DFG) Public Health Research Unit proposals (04/2019 and 09/2022).
  • 2018/2019 Chair of American Committee of Medical Entomology (subgroup of American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene).
  • Ad hoc member of NIH Vector Biology study section (2017).
  • Council member of ASTMH American Committee of Medical Entomology (2016-2020).
  • Advisory Board member on US/UK Collaborative RCN: Vector Behavior in Transmission Ecology (VectorBiTE) (November 2015-2022).