My pronouns are he/him
My research examines the ecological implications of high-threshold gene drive systems for localised control of disease vectors such as mosquitoes. Although gene drive development has largely focused on genetics, ecological processes, particularly density dependence, remain underrepresented in modelling and risk assessment. I have investigated how alternative forms of density-dependent regulation affect the dynamics of a 2-locus underdominance gene drive, showing that ecological assumptions can strongly influence predicted outcomes.
My current work develops mechanistic models of Aedes aegypti populations in which density dependence emerges from larval competition for limited resources. By explicitly modelling growth, food consumption and competitive interactions, this approach captures environmentally driven variation in population regulation. Ongoing research integrates threshold-type gene drive genetics into this framework to assess how emergent ecological processes shape gene drive performance, ecological consequences and risk assessment in both regulatory and applied disease-control settings.
