Research experience in the National Yang Ming University, Taiwan.
Hugo Bugoro,
Ph D student in National Yang-Ming University

I am doing research on malaria control emphasizing on environmental management. One might ask why I came to study here as Taiwan is malaria free. Taiwan has a success story in eradicating malaria infection in the 1950s and something that I really want to know how they did it. Solomon Islands (where I come from) is a country with malaria as one of the leading important public health issues. The Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization ranked Solomon Islands First (1st) as problematic among countries in the western pacific region (World Malaria report 2005). Now with 151 cases per 1000 population in 2006, and with unsatisfactory reductions in cases despite huge investments and tireless efforts to curb it, efforts are geared into researching on environmental management through installations of steel pipelines in creeks being major mosquito breeding sources.
Under the guidance of Professor CC Chen who has vast experiences in malaria control, my research is conducted both in Solomon Islands and in National Yang-Ming University. Malaria in Solomon Islands is transmitted by the Anopheles farauti complex. One of them is the vector and my research is to determine what the effects on mosquito (larvae) population following allowing salinity change in creeks when pipeplines are installed. We also determine the distribution of the Anopheles farauti complex among different salinities as well as on algal cover and other biotic
 

factors. In Yang Ming University, I do molecular identification of the mosquito specimen collected from the Solomon Islands. What really surprised me is the technology that I used here. Very fast and everything is done by machines. I am really happy to learn of such new high technology. To add credit to these kinds of tests is that we are moving into eradication of malaria in some islands and thus every single malaria case in very important. And only molecular methods of detection can be 100% sensitive compared to other methods as the gold standard microscopy. While this is very interesting, I am also worried given that I learned all these methods here in Taiwan but I don’t have the machines in Solomon Islands. I think I will discuss this with my advisor. Overall, I am particularly impressed with what am currently undertaking.