Hughes Mentor:  Laura Harrington

Department: Entomology

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Dr. Laura Harrington ~ Meet a Cornell Researcher

Laura Harrington is an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University. Because her teaching load is lifted during the summer, these three months are a very productive time for her in terms of her own research. Her lab is alive with post-docs, graduate students, and undergrads who are busy working on a whole host of projects. Although her time is valuable she was happy to take a half an hour one Wednesday afternoon to sit down and speak with me about what she is working on and how she got to where she is today.

Like so many biologists, Laura spent her undergraduate career at St. Laurence University with her sights set on medical or veterinary school. During her undergraduate years she also became interested in entomology and vector-borne diseases after taking a class in the subject. Still on the vet school track, however, Laura got a Masters of Medical and Veterinary Entomology at North Carolina State University, making her a more competitive applicant for vet school. Ironically, it was the time she was required to spend in a veterinary clinic in her Masters program that led her to change her long-term plans. Laura found that the day-to-day life in the clinic did not present her with the new challenges she needed. For the next couple of years she turned away from academics and spent some time working in industry researching modes of biological control and pest management.

At this point Laura knew that she wanted to do research and she decided that pursuing a PhD was the next step for her. But it was not until she began her PhD program at the University of Massachusetts that she knew she had found her niche. During her first year at U. Mass Laura accompanied her PhD advisor to field sights in Thailand. There she saw first-hand how vector-borne infectious diseases like malaria and dengue fever affected peopleís lives. Her field experience helped her understand the complicated relationships and how the lives of mosquitoes and humans were so inextricably linked.

After her first visit to Thailand Laura decided on a PhD project that took her back to the same field sight the two years following her original trip. During this period she lived in a rural Thai village. She spent her time studying the behavior of mosquitoes. She hired native field assistants to help with her collecting trips and set up a makeshift laboratory in a rented hut. During this time Laura developed a lot as a researcher and as a person. Miles away from the closest English-speakers, Laura pushed herself to become fluent in Thai. Working by herself she developed her own protocols. She spent a lot of time pouring over the literature in her field. Over the course of her two years in Thailand Laura was infected with both malaria and dengue fever. These experiences contributed to her interest in completely understanding and mitigating the transmission of such vector-borne diseases.

The research projects in the Harrington lab are all related either directly or indirectly to public health. When Laura launches a project she usually frames her research questions around health issues that need to be addressed. For instance, Laura is studying the behavior of the mosquito species Aedes aegypti because it is the primary vector of the dengue virus. In another venture sheís looking at climate effects on the mosquito vector of West Nile virus. She also studies genetic strategies in hopes of eventually gaining some control of the dengue vector. Soon sheíll begin a project on mosquito mating behavior in order to get a grasp on what conditions are conducive to vector propagation. Many of Lauraís projects are collaborative efforts that involve experts in other fields. She uses a holistic approach to public health problems, taking advantage of the body of knowledge that develops when many specialists work together. Because of this strategy the implications of Lauraís research are vast.

One thing Laura has come to realize over the years is that there is never enough time to finish everything she wants to finish. And conversely, there are always things left to do at the end of the day. To save her sanity she is careful to use her time wisely, first getting to the things that will have the greatest impact. She always makes time for students, be they those she has in classes or those who are working with her in the lab. She feels that students are what make working at a university special, different from working for a public agency such as the National Institute of Health. In order to have some uninterrupted time to write Laura spends every Tuesday working from home.

Thanks in part to the number of classes she teaches Laura does not often find herself recruiting students to work in her lab. Instead she is approached many times each semester by students interested in getting involved in her research. If their interests are compatible and thereís room in the lab she tries to get them involved.

The Harrington lab is a dynamic environment. Projects are continuously beginning and ending. New challenges provide the motivation to learn new skills or start new collaborations. While there are ups and downs to her work and she has made many sacrifices along the way to get to where she is, Prof. Laura Harrington believes strongly in the beneficial quality of her research and plans to continue on her course for a long time to come.

An Interview with Dr. Laura Harrington, Entomology

Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous vectors for some of the world’s most deadly diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Titanic efforts have been made in the past to reduce the mosquito populations in order to reduce the spread of these diseases, however, they have had very limited success since it is estimated that nearly 50 million people are still infected with dengue each year. However, with the use of modern molecular biology techniques to understand the feeding patterns and biochemical nature of infection, scientists feel that success in rendering the mosquito incapable of transmitting the disease has never been closer. One such researcher is Dr. Laura Harrington, a medical entomologist, at Cornell, whom has just been awarded a 19.7 million dollar grant from the Great Challenges in Global Health Initiative to work on controlling the mosquitoes.

Dr. Harrington attended St. Lawrence University and planned on becoming a veterinarian until she became interested in mosquitoes when she took an entomology class. She found that research was much more interesting and challenging that being a vet and therefore went to North Carolina State University and received a Masters in entomology. Dr. Harrington then worked in industry for a bit but ultimately decided to pursue further study and received a PhD in medical entomology from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She was then able to do a post-doctorate at University of California, Davis in order to learn some molecular biology techniques that would help her in her own research.

Dr. Harrington carries out lots of field work in order to understand the ecology and behavior of the mosquitoes she studies. She has been to many parts of the world including quite a bit of time in South East Asia. One project that Dr. Harrington worked on was in Thailand where she was looking at the feeding patterns of the Aedes aegypti mosquito by DNA fingerprinting an entire village of people and matching them up with the blood she found in the mosquitoes stomach. Graduate students and even undergraduates that work in Dr. Harrington’s lab are invited to do field research with her overseas. Also, there are many opportunities in her lab to work in the field in the local regions studying the feeding-patterns and climate effects of mosquito vectors for West Nile virus. Dr. Harrington encourages this because she feels that there is not enough emphasis in the Cornell curriculum on field work and studying whole organisms. She feels that by working in the field it necessitates better scientific design and problem solving because of all the difficulties that occur in the field.

When Dr. Harrington has free time she likes to ride horses, go hiking and kayak in the beautiful Fingerlakes region. She also enjoys cooking many ethnic foods including many Thai dishes, of course. Dr. Harrington really likes to travel and is finishing up her summer by sailing around the Mediterranean with her fiancé.

An Interview with Dr. Laura Harrington

Dr. Harrington studies mosquitoes as important vectors of disease such as malaria, dengue hemorrhagic fever, and West Nile. Her research focuses on mosquito behavior and feeding preferences as well as human/vector interactions and insecticide resistance. Since many of these mosquito borne diseases have no vaccine or cure, the best bet for scientists to prevent the spread of these diseases is vector control. Knowledge of vector habitat, blood feeding behavior, mortality, mating, and disease vector resistance will enable scientists to identify points of intervention and prevent the spread of disease. It also allows researchers to predict how human activity may effect the survival and geographic dispersal of these mosquitoes. In particular, Laura’s lab studies the vector of dengue and West Nile, Aedes aegypti. She knows she is working towards goals that will improve human health and that’s her reason for doing her work.

Laura became interested in entomology after collecting bugs for a 4H project and as a child she was always fascinated by stories about Africa. She thought she was going to be pre-vet, but decided against it after she discovered she didn’t like working with cows. She got her BS in Biology from St. Lawrence University and her MS in Medical and Veterinary Entomology from North Carolina State University. She went on to get her PhD in Medical Entomology from the University of Massachusetts. Laura used to work in industry at BASF studying wasps, but she didn’t find her work challenging enough so she switched to academia. She teaches Medical and Veterinary Entomology (ENTOM 532), Plagues and People (ENTOM 210), as well as Seminar in Medical Entomology, all of which are offered in the fall. In addition to her lab at Cornell, Dr. Harrington also has study sites in Asia. Once while working in Thailand, she even got malaria! Laura likes the fact that academia is always full of challenge and excitement. She especially enjoys working with college students because they are young, energetic, and motivating. She currently has 9 undergraduates working in her lab. In her free time she likes to kayak, cook, go hiking with friends, and learn about plant biology.