Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a highly pathogenic mosquito-borne virus causing encephalitis in humans and horses in tropical as well as temperate regions of Asia. In nature, the virus is maintained in its natural host, birds, through infectious mosquito bites. The vector mosquitoes mainly belong to the genus Culex. In addition, pigs are an important amplifying host in epidemic transmission. One of the most intriguing and unresolved questions regarding JEV is how it persist winters in temperate regions where the mosquito vector has a prolonged period of inactivity.In this PhD project, several aspects of virus perpetuation will be examined. To investigate whether JEV is imported annually into the temperate regions of Asia or remains in the region over winter, phylogeographic analyses will be carried out using whole genome sequencing. Overwintering in the mosquito vector has previously been proposed as a likely strategy, however very little is known about the mechanisms necessary for this to be possible. In this project, overwintering Culex mosquitos will be collected in northern Vietnam and analysed for virus and blood feeding status. In laboratory experiments, various aspects of virus infection of Culex mosquitoes will be examined, e.g. vertical transmission and co-feeding.This study aims to give a summarized and comprehensive view of the overwintering mechanisms of JEV. A mathematical model for all overwintering mechanisms will be developed. This will clarify the probabilities of each mechanism to be significant in virus transmission and maintenance. The findings could potentially be employed on viruses with similar ecology such as Usutu virus and West Nile virus.

ReCubeds sustainable food delivery platform helps restaurants and their customers who want to minimize the environmental impact of the delivery and take away culture by avoiding expensive logistics and packaging and providing safe, affordable and sustainable solutions unlike the existing food delivery providers. A startup accepted into the UIC (Uppsala Innovation Center) Business Startup program.

Global Health Course, Field Exercise in Matlab and Dhaka and completion of a journal article about Rotavirus relevant to the field of Infectious Diseases and health in Bangladesh and Sweden.

I mentored junior international students. I helped them arrive and settle in Berlin and coached them to have a successful academic start at the Humboldt University of Berlin.