Tulane University

Contact Info
wesson@tulane.edu

Degrees

• B.A., North Central College, Biology and Spanish, 1983
• M.S., University of Chicago, Illinois, Ecology, 1985
• Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, Medical Entomology, 1991

Academic Experience

• Associate Professor, Department of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1999-
• Assistant Professor, Department of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1993-1999

Research & Teaching Specializations: Tropical Medicine, anthropod-borne tropical pathogens, novel vector control methods.

Related Experience

• Member, Core Working Group for Human Subjects Protection in Vector Research, NIAID, 2009-2014
• Director, Vector-Borne Disease Initiative, Tulane University SPHTM, 2007-
• Director, Training Program in Vector-Borne Diseases, Tulane University, 2002-

Distinctions

• Vice President and President, Louisiana Mosquito Control Assoication, 2000-2002
• Board of Directors, Louisiana Mosquito Control Association, 1999-
• St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Control Advisory Board, 2007-
• New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board, 2006-
• Louisiana Arbovirus Working Group, 2002-2010
• New Orleans City Business Magazine, 2003 Women of the Year, 2003

Languages:

• Spanish

Selected Publications

• 2016. With Buekens P, Alger J, Althabe F, Bergel E, Berrueta AM, Bustillo C, Cafferata ML, Harville E, Rosales K. Zika virus infection in pregnant women in Honduras (ZIPH Study): study protocol. Reproductive Health. 13(82).
• 2016. With Paz-Soldan VA, Yukich J, Soonthorndhada A, Giron M, Apperson CS, Ponnusamy L, Schal C, Morrison AC, Keating J. Product design of novel lethal ovitrap for Aedes mosquitoes in Peru and Thailand: participatory process between industry, academia and community to reduce vector populations. Parasites and Vectors.
• 2015. With Londono-Renteria B, Drame PM, Weitzel T, Rosas R, Gripping C, Cardenas JC, Alvares M, Poinsignon A, Remoue F, Colpitts TM. An. gambiae gSG6-P1 evaluation as a proxy for human-vector contact in the Americas: a pilot study. Parasites and Vectors.
• 2015. With Londono-Renteria B, Cardenas JC, Giovanni JE, Cardenas L, Villamizar P, Rolon J, Chisenhall DM, Christofferson RC, Carvajal DJ, Pérez OG, Mores CN. Aedes aegypti anti-salivary gland antibody concentration and dengue virus exposure history in healthy individuals living in an endemic area in Colombia. Biomédica. 35(4).
• 2015. With Guagliardo SA, Morrison A, Barboza JL, Ponnusamy L, Astete H, Vazquez-Prokopec G, Kitron U. Evidence for Aedes aegypti oviposition on boats in the Peruvian Amazon. J Med Entomol.
• 2013. With Londono-Renteria B, Cardenas JC, Cardenas LD, Christofferson RC, Chisenhall DM, McCracken MK, Carvajal D, Mores CN. Use of anti-Aedes aegypti salivary extract antibody concentration to correlate risk of vector exposure and dengue transmission risk in Colombia. PLoS ONE 8(12).
• 2013. With Buekens P, Cafferata ML, Alger J, Althabe F, Belizan J, Carlier Y, Ciganda A, Dumonteil E, Gamboa-Leon R, Howard E, Matute ML, Sosa-Estani S, Truyens C, and Zuniga C. Congenital transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Argentina, Honduras, and Mexico: study protocol. Reprod Health 10: 55. Doi: 10.1186/1742-4755-10-55.
• 2012. With Rider, Byrd, Keating, Caillouet. PCR detection of malaria parasites in desiccated Anopheles mosquitos is unihibited by storage time and temperature. Malaria J. 11(193)
• 2012. With Mendenhall, Tello, Neira, Castillo, Ocampo. Host preference of the arbovirus vector Culex erraticus in Sonso Lake, Cauca Valley Department, Colombia. J. Med. Entomol. 49(4)
• 2012. With Mendenhall, Bahl, Blum. Genetic structure of Culex erraticus populations across the Americas. J. Med. Entomol. 49(4)
• 2012. With Ellis, Sang, Horn, Higgs. Yellow fever virus susceptibility of two mosquito vectors from Kenya, East Africa. Trans. Roy. Soc. Trop. Med. 106(6):387-389

Recently-Taught Latin American-Related Courses: Medical Entomology; Medical Entomology (SPHTM); Arthropods and Public Health (BSPH)

Number of Dissertations or Theses Supervised in the Past 5 Years: 8