I am interested in vector-parasite interactions from an evolutionary ecology perspective, asking how the conditions inside vectors affect parasite fitness, and whether parasites can adapt to maximise their survival and transmission.
I completed my PhD in the Reece lab, and am now research co-lead on a NERC Pushing the Frontiers grant investigating how daily rhythms impact mosquito-malaria parasite interactions, and whether malaria parasites can adapt to changes in mosquito biting time-of-day.
While control measures like bed nets have been really successful for reducing transmission, there is evidence that mosquitoes are now shifting their biting time of day to earlier in the evening, or later at night, when people are unprotected by bed nets. However, we don’t know what environmental factors are driving these shifts, how these shifts are impacting transmission, and whether parasites can evolve to maximise their fitness in response to these changing conditions.
PUBLICATIONS
Oke, C. E., Rund, S. S., Machani, M. G., Sabtiu, A. R. M., Akuamoah-Boateng, Y., Afrane, Y. A., & Reece, S. E. (2025). Biting time of day in malaria mosquitoes is modulated by nutritional status. bioRxiv, 2025-04. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.28.650966
Here, we reveal that the nutritional status of mosquitoes influences the time of day that they seek a human to bite. Specifically, poorly-fed mosquitoes attempt to bite humans in the early evening when they are unlikely to be protected by bed nets, which could lead to increased malaria transmission.
Oke, C. E., O'Donnell, A. J., Schneider, P., & Reece, S. E. (2024). Plasticity in malaria parasite development: mosquito resources influence vector-to-host transmission potential. Frontiers in Malaria, 2, 1481816. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmala.2024.1481816
Parasites rely on their hosts for all their nutrition however mosquitoes in the field exhibit diversity in the amount of food they require. In this paper we ask how variation in the amount of sugar and blood provided to malaria-infected mosquitoes affects the potential for parasites to transmit from vector to host. We find that parasites in well resourced mosquitoes are bigger, faster and are more numerous. Our results also suggest that resource availability affects the ability of parasites to migrate from the midgut to salivary glands for transmission.
Oke, C. E., Reece, S. E., & Schneider, P. (2023). Testing a non-destructive assay to track Plasmodium sporozoites in mosquitoes over time. Parasites & Vectors, 16(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-06015-5
We tested a non-destructive method to detect sporozoites from individual infected mosquitoes on sugar-feeding substrates. Detection rate was surprisingly low, and investigations of the biological causes underlying this is needed to maximise the utility of using non-destructive assays to quantify sporozoite dynamics
Oke C. E., Ingham, V. A., Walling C. A., Reece, S. E. (2022) Vector control: agents of selection on malaria parasites? Trends in Parasitology 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2022.07.006.
This review highlights how vector control tools such as insecticides have altered mosquito vectors and consequently parasite ecology, and discusses how parasites might be able to respond. Understanding parasite responses is important because they could undermine gains made towards malaria elimination and may have knock-on consequences for parasite-host interactions.
Miot EF, Calvez E, Aubry F, Dabo S, Grandadam M., Marcombe S, Oke, C, Logan JG, Brey PT & Lambrechts L. (2020). Risk of arbovirus emergence via bridge vectors: case study of the sylvatic mosquito Aedes malayensis in the Nakai district, Laos. Sci. Rep. 10: 7750. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64696-9
Martinez J, Showering A, Oke C, Jones RT, Logan JG. (2021). Differential attraction in mosquito–human interactions and implications for disease control. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 376: 20190811. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0811
EDUCATION/JOBS
2020 – 2024, PhD in Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh
- The evolutionary ecology of vector-parasite interactions
2017 – 2020, Scientific Officer, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Investigating the role of genetics in differential human attractiveness to malaria mosquitoes
2013 – 2017, MBiolSci Biology (integrated Masters), University of Sheffield
FUNDING
Currently funded by a NERC Pushing the Frontiers grant (2025-2028)
PhD Studentship (2020-2024) was funded by Royal Society, Wellcome Trust and School of Biological Sciences