Dr Victoria Sy

Victoria obtained her BSc (Hons) in Biology and her PhD in Natural Sciences from the National University of La Plata, Argentina. During her PhD she studied factors affecting the development and reproduction of the floodwater mosquito Ochlerotatus albifasciatus, combining laboratory and field work.

After completing her PhD, she joined the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (Montpellier, France) where she studied the effect of the parasitism caused by a microsporidian (Vavraia culicis) on life history traits of Aedes aegypti, and its potential as an evolution proof biocontrol agent. She has also worked on the implementation of the Sterile Insect Technique for the control of Aedes albopictus in the Emilia Romana region, Italy, and has experience working with entomopathogenic fungus for pest control.

Victoria joined The Pirbright Institute in 2016, working in genetic control of mosquitoes as part of the Arthropod Genetic group, developing low invasive gene drive systems using Aedes aegypti as model organism. She has recently moved to the Entomology group where she works on the Infravec2 project, an EU founded project aiming to increase the availability of resources associated with vector-borne disease research on a Europe-wide scale.