Carla Alexandra Sousa

Carla A. Sousa is an Associated Professor at the Medical Parasitology Unit of IHMT-NOVA. She got a degree in Biology (1990) from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and a PhD in Medical Parasitology (2008) from the IHMT-NOVA. Her PhD studies were focused on the vectorial capacity and competence of Anopheles atroparvus Van Thiel, 1927, the former malaria vector in Portugal.  From 1995 to 2000 she held a position as a Junior Assistant of Medical Entomology and from 2000 to 2008 as an Assistant, both at IHMT. Between 2008 and 2020 she was an Assistant Professor, also at IHMT. Carla A. Sousa has both teaching and research (laboratorial and field work) experience in Portugal (in mainland and Madeira archipelago) and in Portuguese speaking countries: Brazil, Macau, Angola, Cabo Verde São Tomé e Príncipe and Guinea-Bissau.  She is, since 2015, the coordinator of the MSc Course on Medical Parasitology, at IHMT.

Carla A. Sousa acted as a consultant for Madeira Health authorities during Dengue outbreak in 2012 and, as WHO consultant, during Mozambique´s Dengue outbreak (2014). From 2012-2015 was a member of the Platform of Specialists in Medical Entomology and Public Health, as a consultant to the Ministry of Health of Portugal / General Directorate of Health.

At IHMT, she is currently member of the Scientific Council, Pedagogical Council and IHMT’s Council.  She was also a former member of the Ethical Commission (2011-2020), and acted as Interim President between 2014-15.

C. A. Sousa is author/co-author of 68 peer reviewed research papers and five book chapters and has supervised or co-supervised 11 MSc and four PhD thesis.

Major areas of interest are focused on risk assessment of mosquito-transmitted diseases and development of new tools for mosquito surveillance and control. Field-based entomological data, environmental analysis (including remote and /or GIS-based data), community-based social studies and molecular research (e.g. microbiome analysis) are integrated to model the emergence and progress of Aedes-transmitted arboviruses. New methodologies for early warning, surveillance and monitoring, are under development, as well as improved tools for vector control. Regarding the latter, new approaches for individual protection against mosquito bites are being designed and implemented in collaboration with other research groups and in joint ventures with industry.

Long-lasting or concluded research lines have focused on: (i) risk assessment for malaria re-emergence in Portugal; (ii) epidemiological studies of malaria and arboviral diseases of medical and veterinary importance in tropical and sub-tropical regions and; (iv) insecticide resistance studies as part of vector control programs. Mosquito systematics and bionomics are recurrent topics usually developed has side-line studies of several projects.

Team:  Gonçalo Seixas (contract researcher) and Tiago Melo (project researcher).

1. Michaelakis, Antonios; Balestrino, Fabrizio; Becker, Norbert; Bellini, Romeo; Caputo, Beniamino; della Torre, Alessandra; Figuerola, Jordi; et al. “A Case for Systematic Quality Management in Mosquito Control Programs in Europe”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18 7 (2021):3478. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073478.10.3390/ijerph180734783
2. Salami, Nazareth, Teresa; Craveiro, Isabel; Moutinho, Alanny; Seixas, Gonçalo; Gonçalves, Cátia; Gonçalves, Luzia; Teodósio, Rosa; Sousa, Carla A. “What happens when we modify mosquitoes for disease prevention? A systematic review”. Emerging Microbes & Infections 9 1 (2020): 348-365. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2020.1722035.10.1080/22221751.2020.172203510
3. Salami, Donald; Sousa, Carla Alexandra; Martins, Maria do Rosário Oliveira; Capinha, César. “Predicting dengue importation into Europe, using machine learning and model-agnostic methods”. Scientific Reports 10 1 (2020): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66650-1.10.1038/s41598-020-66650-15
4. Paul, Richard; Sousa, Carla; Sakuntabhai, Anavaj; Devine, Gregor. “Mosquito control might not bolster imperfect dengue vaccines”. Lancet 384 9956 (2014):1747-1748. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62071-7
5. Sousa, Carla A.; Clairouin, Margarida; Seixas, Gonçalo; Viveiros, Bela; Novo, Maria T.; Silva, Ana C.; Escoval, Maria T.; Economopoulou, A. “Ongoing outbreak of dengue type 1 in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Portugal: preliminary report”. Eurosurveillance 17 (2012): http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20333