Personal profile
Biography
Karina Mondragon-Shem is an entomologist working on neglected vector-borne diseases. She specialised in entomology during her undergraduate studies, and worked on leishmaniasis ecoepidemiology in different countries, studying sandflies, reservoir hosts, screening patients, and engaging communities often in rural and remote areas.
She went on to study for an MSc in Medical Parasitology at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, spending three months in India evaluating sandfly collection methods. Karina then pursued a PhD at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), studying the salivary glycoproteins of mosquitoes, sandflies, tsetse, triatomines and ticks. During this time, she also participated in a leishmaniasis project in Saudi Arabia, contributing to the identification of sandfly species and the development of an assay to detect exposure to sandfly bites.
During her postdoctoral research at LSTM, Karina has worked on the ecology and control of tsetse and rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Malawi, as part of the Strengthening Resilience Against Sleeping Sickness (STRESS) project. During this study she was awarded a Wellcome Trust Institutional Translational Partnership Award to extend this work to a second disease focus. A second Wellcome Trust iTPA funded a strategic mapping exercise on climate and health activities at LSTM to shape institutional priorities. She was also awarded the Director’s Catalyst Fund by LSTM to study the age of tsetse using mid-infrared spectroscopy.
Karina is a member of the Climate, Environment and Health Working Group, and serves on the MSc Ethics Committee at LSTM.
Research interests
Her interests lie in the health impacts of the climate injustice and other environmental challenges, using a critical ecology approach. This includes urban disease ecology, land-use effects on human and animal health, and the role of global trade/travel in the spread of vector-borne diseases.
Teaching
Karina has been actively engaged in teaching at LSTM since 2014. Her teaching covers phlebotomine sandflies, triatomines, tsetse flies, diagnosis and control of vector-borne diseases, and climate change.
Themes
- Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases
- Vector Control and Resistance Management
- Climate Health
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Advancing age grading techniques for Glossina morsitans morsitans, vectors of african trypanosomiasis, through mid-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning
Pazmiño-Betancourth, M., Gómez-Uribarri, I. C., Mondragon Shem, K., Babayan, S. A., Baldini, F. & Haines, L., 17 Aug 2024, In: Biology Methods and Protocols. 9, 1, bpae058.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Citations (Scopus) -
Tsetse salivary glycoproteins are modified with paucimannosidic N-glycans, are recognised by C-type lectins and bind to trypanosomes
Kozak, R. P., Mondragon Shem, K., Williams, C., Rose, C., Perally, S., Caljon, G., Van Den Abbeele, J., Wongtrakul-Kish, K., Gardner, R. A., Spencer, D., Lehane, M. J. & Acosta-Serrano, A., 2 Feb 2021, In: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 15, 2, p. 1-22 22 p., e0009071.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus) -
Insights into the salivary N-glycome of Lutzomyia longipalpis, vector of visceral leishmaniasis
Mondragon Shem, K., Wongtrakul-Kish, K., Kozak, R. P., Yan, S., Wilson, I. B. H., Paschinger, K., Rogers, M. E., Spencer, D. I. R. & Acosta-Serrano, A., 31 Jul 2020, In: Scientific Reports. 10, 1, 12903.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus) -
Cutaneous leishmaniasis and co-morbid major depressive disorder: A systematic review with burden estimates.
Baileyid, F., Mondragon Shem, K., Haines, L., Olabi, A., Alorfi, A., Ruiz-Postigo, J. A., Alvar, J., Hotez, P., Adams, E., Vélez, I. D., Al-Salem, W., Eaton, J., Acosta-Serrano, A. & Molyneux, D., 25 Feb 2019, In: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 13, 2, p. e0007092 e0007092.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile87 Citations (Scopus) -
A new perspective on cutaneous leishmaniasis-Implications for global prevalence and burden of disease estimates
Bailey, F., Mondragon Shem, K., Hotez, P., Ruiz-Postigo, J. A., Al-Salem, W., Acosta-Serrano, A. & Molyneux, D., 10 Aug 2017, In: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 11, 8, p. e0005739. e0005739.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile140 Citations (Scopus)