Skip to main content

Douglas
E.
Norris
,
PhD

Professor

Contact Info

615 N. Wolfe Street, Room E3628
Baltimore
Maryland
21205
US        
410-955-0105

Research Interests

vector biology; entomology; population genetics; arthropod genetics; Lyme Disease; malaria; West Nile virus; biodiversity; tick; mosquito; Rickettsia; dengue; Zika

Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
PhD
Colorado State University
1997
MS
North Carolina State University
1993
BS
North Carolina State University
1990
Overview

Arthropod-borne diseases are responsible for enormous amounts of morbidity and mortality world-wide. Research in my laboratory is focused on genetic diversity within, and the genetic structuring of, arthropod and arthropod-borne pathogen populations. This research helps identify which arthropod populations may be important for disease transmission and which pathogen populations may be responsible for causing disease. The genetic information gathered in these studies also aids in the understanding of the evolution and genetic constraints of these vector-pathogen systems and may provide insight into how these cycles of disease may be disrupted. Current research activities in the laboratory are focused on malaria in Southern and Central Africa, Lyme disease, Rickettsia and other tick-borne bacteria in the Eastern United States, and dengue, yellow fever and Zika in South America. We are also working on novel trapping and pathogen surveillance technologies using vector arthropods as biological sensors.

Honors & Awards

2022 Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; 2022-Present - Chair, Scientific Advisory Board, Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases Research and Education Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; 2021 Distinguished Service Award, Society for Vector Ecology; 2021-2022 - Chair, American Committee on Medical Entomology; 2020 Delta Omega Honors Society; 2019-Present - Executive Board, Northeastern Regional Representative, Society for Vector Ecology; 2019-Present - Executive Council, American Committee on Medical Entomology; 2019-Present - Editorial Board, Journal of Medical Entomology; 2017 Student Assembly Advising, Mentorship and Teaching Recognition Award (AMTRA); 2013-2014 - President of the Society for Vector Ecology; 2010-2011 - President, Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology Section of the Entomological Society of America; 2005-2006 - President of the Acarological Society of America

Select Publications

Our publications represent the work conducted in the laboratory, so tend to be quite varied. Below are five of our most recent research publications.

  • (Selected papers) Gebhardt, ME, R Krizek, M Coetzee, LL Koekemoer, Y Dahan-Moss, D Mbewe, JS Lupiya, M Muleba, JC Stevenson, WJ Moss and DE Norris for the Southern and Central Africa ICEMR Team. 2022. Expanded geographic distribution and host preference of Anopheles gibbinsi (Anopheles species 6) in northern Zambia. Malaria Journal. 21(1): 211. PMID: 35780113. PMC9250713. doi: 10.1186/s12936-022-04231-5.

  • Pastusiak, A, MR Reddy, X Chen, I Hoyer, J Dorman, ME Gebhardt, G Carpi, DE Norris, JM Pipas and EK Jackson. 2024. A metagenomic analysis of the phase 2 Anopheles gambiae 1000 genomes dataset reveals a wide diversity of cobionts associated with field collected mosquitoes. Nature Communications Biology. 7(1): 667. PMID: 38816486 PMC11139907. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06337-9 

  • Ali, R, ME Gebhardt, JS Lupiya, M Muleba, and DE Norris. 2024. The first complete mitochondrial genome of Anopheles gibbinsi using a skimming sequencing approach. F1000Research. 13: 553. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.148473.1

  • Gebhardt, ME, KM Searle, T Kobayashi, TM Shields, H Hamapumbu, L Simubali, T Mudenda, PE Thuma, JC Stevenson, WJ Moss and DE Norris for the Southern Africa ICEMR Team. 2022. Understudied anophelines contribute to malaria transmission in a low-transmission setting in Choma District, Southern Province, Zambia. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 106(5): 1406-1413. PMID: 35344932. PMC9128685. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0989

  • Fola, A, Q He, S Xie, J Thimmapuram, KP Bhide, J Dorman, II Ciubotariu, MC Mwenda, B Mambwe, C Mulube, M Hawela, DE Norris, WJ Moss, DJ Bridges and G Carpi. 2024. Genomics reveals heterogeneous Plasmodium falciparum transmission and population differentiation in Zambia and bordering countries. Nature Communications Medicine. 4(1):67. PMID: 38582941 PMC10998850. doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00498-8

  • Muleba, M, KJ Mbata, JC Stevenson, and DE Norris. 2023. Spatial-temporal vector abundance and malaria transmission dynamics in Nchelenge and Lake Mweru islands, a region with high burden of malaria in northern Zambia. Malaria Journal. 22: 327. PMID: 37899457. PMC10613358. doi: 10.1186/s12936-023-04746-5

Projects
International Centers for Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR)
Vectorial Components of Malaria Transmission
Computing the Biome
Deep monitoring of the biome will converge life sciences, policy, and engineering
Tick-borne pathogens in Maryland
Understanding the Vectorial Components of Malaria Transmission in Macha
Malaria Transmission and the Impact of Control Efforts in Southern Africa
Impact of population movement and foraging behavior of Anopheles arabiensis
Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia-like organisms in Maryland
Mapping malaria epidemiology in Bangladesh
Predicting dengue epidemics with entomological and virological surveillance by xenomonitoring
Population And Genomic Approaches To Insecticide In Anopheles gambiae s.I. In Mali