Vincenzo Lorusso, PhD: "Ticks and tick-borne diseases at the livestock/human interface: Tales from sub-Saharan Africa"

Monday, July 11, 2016, 13:00, Hygiene Institute, Lecture Hall 2, Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1090 Vienna

COLLOQUIUM IN PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, INFECTIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY

» Invitation

Vincenzo Lorusso, DVM, PhD, DipEVPC
After qualifying as a veterinarian (April 2009) at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Bari, Italy, Vincenzo Lorusso worked for about a year as a research collaborator at the Unit of Veterinary Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, headed by Prof Domenico Otranto, at the same vet school. His research efforts there mainly focused on ticks and vector-borne diseases, including those of zoonotic relevance (e.g. leishmaniasis).
Between 2010 and 2013, he carried out his PhD at the University of Edinburgh, UK, on the ‘Epidemiology and Control of Cattle Ticks and Tick-borne Infections in Nigeria’. Alongside his PhD research, he was involved in the field activities of the ‘Stamp Out Sleeping Sickness (SOS)’ Programme in Uganda.
In October 2013, he joined the veterinary pharmaceutical company Vetoquinol as Scientific Manager for Global Research in Parasitology. At Vetoquinol, Vincenzo leads all research activities in parasitology, from proof of principle/proof of concept assessment to preclinical development.
Vincenzo is a Diplomate of the European Veterinary Parasitology College (EVPC), since 2015, and currently is a Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Salford, UK, where he supervises PhD students investigating tick ecology and the epidemiology of tick-borne infections in livestock in sub-Saharan Africa.
Author or co-author of a dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals and one book chapter, Vincenzo acts as referee for several international journals in the field of tropical medicine, entomology and parasitology.

5 Key Publications

• Lorusso V, Wijnveld M, Majekodunmi AO, Dongkum C, Fajinmi A, Dogo AG, et al. Tick-borne pathogens of zoonotic and veterinary importance in Nigerian cattle. Parasites & Vectors; 2016;9(1):217.
• Lorusso V, Gruszka KA, Majekodunmi A, Igweh A, Welburn SC, Picozzi K. Rickettsia africae in Amblyomma variegatum ticks, Uganda and Nigeria. Emerg Infect Dis; 2013;19(10):1705–7.
• Lorusso V, Picozzi K, de Bronsvoort BMC, Majekodunmi A, Dongkum C, Balak G, et al. Ixodid ticks of traditionally managed cattle in central Nigeria: where Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus does not dare (yet?). Parasites & Vectors; 2013;6(1):171.
• Lorusso V, Dantas-Torres F, Caprio F, Manzionna M, Santoro N, Baneth G, et al. Paediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Italy: a “One Health” approach is needed. Parasites & Vectors; 2013;6(Vl):123.
• Lorusso V, Dantas-Torres F, Lia RP, Tarallo VD, Mencke N, Capelli G, Otranto D. Seasonal dynamics of the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, on a confined dog population in Italy. Med Vet Entomol; 2010; 24(3):309–15.

Host: Michiel Wijnveld