Leonard E. Munstermann, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist,
Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases
Tools of molecular genetics focused on the insect vector provide clues to genomic organization, population structure and evolutionary relationships. Dr. Munstermann’s research emphasizes three genetic approaches: (1) Gene linkage mapping provides genetic backbone for isolating genes and macrogenomic evolution; (2) Genetic variability within an insect species in the form of isoenzymes or DNA base pair substitutions indicate population structure, population origin or taxonomic relatedness; and (3) Identification of closely related vector species by (biochemical) genetic means. Research organisms are Aedes mosquitoes and phlebotomine sand flies of New and Old World.
A long term research focus is the geographic distribution of the insect vectors and the association with disease transmission. Species distribution maps, correlation to environmental factors and location of disease cases form a data matrix analyzable in a Geographical Information System. To better predict risk of disease outbreak-knowledge of vector species involved, vector distribution, and vector competence is required. These have been applied in the Mosquitoes of Sardinia Project and the Biogeography of New World Sand Flies.
Dr. Munstermann also serves as Associate Curator in the Division
of Entomology at the Yale
Peabody Museum.
Awards and Honors
Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, University of Minnesota, Morris, 2004
Elected President, Connecticut Entomological Society, 2001
2000 Team Research Award (with M. Braks, J. Birungi, S. Juliano, L. Lounibos, R. Lourenco de Oliveira, G. O’Meara), Florida Entomological Society
14th Rozeboom Lecturer in Medical Entomology, John Hopkins University, 1998.
Published photographs of Insect Vectors of Disease in 42 newspapers, research journals and books, including Science, New York Times and Yale Medicine - 1979-2007
Professional Services
Scientific Peer Reviewer, American Institute of Biological Sciences, “Military Infectious Diseases Research Program, Panel Review”, for medical research proposed in the U.S. Department of Defense, 2000-2007
National Institutes of Health Study Sections, 8 panels—1998-2006
Entomology Exhibits at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 12 exhibits, 1996-2007
Associate Editor, Biomédica, 2003
Editorial Board, Journal of Medical Entomology, 2002
Current Research Projects
Systematic Revision of the Genus Lutzomyia (400 species), New World Vectors of Leishmaniasis; Incipient Speciation Processes of Lutzomyia verrucarum in the Peruvian Andes; New Light Trap for Insect Vectors: Testing and Patenting; Translating Research in Medical Entomology into K-12 Curricula; and Epidemiological Interactions between Human, Sandfly, Reservoir Host and Parasite in a Novel Epidemic Situation of Cutaneous leishmaniasis.
Selected Publications
González, C., Cabrera, O.L., Munstermann, L.E., and Ferro, C. Distribución de los vectores de Leishmania infantum (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) en Colombia. Biomédica 26(1): 64-72, 2006.
Beati, L., Cáceres. A.G., Lee, J.A. and Munstermann, L.E. Systematic Relationships among Lutzomyia Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) of Peru and Colombia Based on the Analysis of 12S and 28S Ribosomal DNA Sequences. International Journal of Parasitology 34(2): 225-234, 2004.
Munstermann, L.E. Phlebotomine Sand Flies, the Psychodidae. In: Biology of Disease Vectors, 2nd Edition, Marquardt, W.C., Black, W.C., Freier, J., Hagedorn, H., Hemingway, J., Higgs, S., James, A.A., and Kondratieff, B., (Eds.) Elsevier Science, San Diego, California, 141-151, 2004.
Armbruster, P., Damsky, W.E. Jr., Giordano, R., Birungi, J., Munstermann, L.E. and Conn, J.E. Infection of New- and Old-World Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) by the Intracellular Parasite Wolbachia: Implications for Host Mitochondrial DNA Evolution. Journal of Medical Entomology 40(3): 356-360, 2003.
Hodgkinson, V.H., Birungi, J., Haghpanah, M., Joshi, S., and Munstermann, L.E. Rapid Identification of Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Haplotypes by SSCP in Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) Populations. Journal of Medical Entomology 39(4): 689-694, 2002.
Birungi, J. and Munstermann, L.E. Genetic Structure of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Cluicidae) Populations Based on Mitochondrial ND5 Sequences: Evidence for an Independent Invasion into Brazil and United States. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 95(1): 125-132, 2002.
Santamaría, E., Munstermann, L.E., and Ferro, C. Estimating Carrying Capacity in a Newly Colonized Sand Fly Lutzomyia serrana (Diptera: Psychodidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 95(1): 149-154, 2002.
Andreadis, T.G., Anderson, J.F., Munstermann, L.E., Wolfe, R.J., and Florin, D.A. Discovery, Distribution and Abundance of a Newly Introduced Mosquito, Ochlerotatus japonicus (Diptera: Cluicidae), in Connecticut, USA. Journal of Medical Entomology 38(6): 774-779, 2001.
For a further list of Dr. Munstermann’s publications, please see PubMed.
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