Nicole L. Achee
Lead Principal Investigator
Nicole L. Achee, PhD, is a Medical Entomologist (Research Associate Professor) within the Department of Biological Sciences and holds a joint Associate Professor appointment in the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame. She has a combined 20 years of experience in vector behavior research related to the epidemiology and control of arthropod-borne diseases, including evaluation of vector ecology, habitat management and adult control strategies, disease risk modeling using GIS and remote sensing technologies, and evaluation of chemical actions against mosquito vectors under both laboratory and field conditions. She has worked in the international settings of Belize, Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, South Korea, Suriname, Tanzania and Thailand. Achee was the principal investigator of a research program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focused on the development of spatial repellents for use in combination push-pull systems to reduce human-vector contact for dengue prevention. She is currently a PI for a trial to generate evidence of the protective efficacy of spatial repellents for prevention of malaria and dengue for use towards full WHO recommendations. Achee is also currently serving as the Scientific Director for a Unitaid-funded program implementing three clinical trials in Mali, Kenya and Sri Lanka to further inform spatial repellent global health policies and the lead PI for Department of Defense funded program focused on creating a system-of-systems for infectious disease risk prediction.
Achee has served as a Working Group member for the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES), a Board Member and the Past-Chair of the American Committee of Medical Entomology (ACME) of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), is currently member of the WHO Global Collaboration for the Development of Pesticides for Public Health partnership (GCDPP), a Vector Control Working Group representative of Roll Back Malaria and served as the lead scientist for the WHO Guidelines for Efficacy Testing of Spatial Repellents. Her latest efforts have been serving as partner in the Worldwide Insecticide Resistance Network (WIN) and a Committee member for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine study: Gene Drives on the Horizon: Advancing Science, Navigating Uncertainty, and Aligning Research with Public Values. Achee co-directs the Belize Vector and Ecology Center (BVEC) which serves as a local platform of excellence for research, training and education in public health.