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PROFILE SUMMARY

Professor Delenasaw Yewhalaw is a professor of Public Health Entomology at the School of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Health Sciences, and Founding Director of Tropical and Infectious Diseases Research Center (TIDRC) at Jimma University, Ethiopia. Apart from teaching, he has been highly engaged in research and community service. His research to date has been highly relevant to health policy, practice and the program. His work mainly focuses on malaria and other vector-borne infectious diseases epidemiology, surveillance and control.

Pioneering works in establishing research infrastructure

Prof Delenasaw established Malaria Field Research Station and Mosquito Insectary in Asendabo, Ethiopia in 2008 with the support from TDR grant, he started to attract several research grants and he established Tropical and Infectious Diseases Research Center (TIDRC) in 2010 at Sekoru, Ethiopia with state-of-the-art research facilities which can be used as a center of excellence in the area of infectious diseases research in Ethiopia, the region and beyond. Some researchers call TIDRC “Science in the Jungle” since it was established out of Jimma University campus and away from towns in an isolated area surrounded by hills and bushes. In 2013, he established Molecular Entomology Laboratory with the support from USAID/PMI which was the first in Ethiopia.

Later with other grants he obtained from NIH and together with University of California collaborators, he co-established in 2018 the International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) Laboratories at Arjo-Didessa, Ethiopia.  He also established Malaria Parasite Culture Facility (in 2021), Genomics Laboratory, Arboviral Diseases Research Laboratory and Microbiome Laboratory in 2023 both at the Institute of Health, Jimma University to support staff research and graduate programs. In 2024 he also established Anopheles stephensi Insectary in Awash (Afar region) a far-to-reach area to study in-situ the bionomics of this invasive malaria vector in Ethiopia.

Recipient of multiple research and innovation grants

Prof Delenasaw has been awarded 39 research and innovation grants (24 active and 15 completed) and several of them are prestigious research grants which include grants from NIH, Wellcome Trust, European Union Horizon 2020, WHO/TDR, Grand Challenge Canada, National Environmental Research Council, Gates Foundation, USAID and others.

Mentoring young researchers and students

So far, he mentored 86 MSc and 16 PhD local and international students. He also co-developed “Health Research Mentorship in low- and middle-income countries (HERMES): a TDR Global practical guide to spur mentorship institutionalization” which was spearheaded by the TDR Global Ethiopia Node and AHRI. He has been involved in developing guidelines and manuals for malaria control.

Launching post graduate programs to produce next generation researchers and scientists

Prof. Delenasaw has initiated and developed the following curricula to produce high level professionals in the field of infectious diseases and bioinformatics:

• Curriculum for PhD program in Tropical and Infectious Diseases
• Curriculum for MSc program in Public Health Entomology & Vector Control. Moreover, Prof Delenasaw was also co- developed with a team from AHRI a Curriculum for MSc Program in Bioinformatics which was later jointly launched by AHRI and Jimma University.

Impactful Research

He has conducted extensive research which could inform policy, practice and program including disease vector biology, ecology & behavior, molecular epidemiology of malaria which include, Duffy antigens, insecticide resistance status of malaria vectors in Ethiopia and Africa and its impact on the bio-efficacy of current malaria control interventions. Part of his research has been focusing on the impact of water resources development projects, especially hydro-power dams on malaria incidence and transmission in Africa. He also described the first evidence of the occurrence of kdr mutations in mosquito populations from Ethiopia and later the role of metabolic resistance in addition to kdr. Findings from this research led to change to insecticide use and the development of an insecticide resistance management strategy (IRM) by the Ethiopian National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP). His study also revealed the shift in mosquito peak biting activity from late night to early evening which compromises the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets to reduce human-vector contact and hence reduce transmission. Together with his team, has also co-developed cost-effective and user-friendly vector surveillance tools and an automated diagnostic tool (LabDisck) to improve vector control intervention in sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, with his co-workers he published the first ever reference genome sequence of P. vivax in Africa from Ethiopia isolates in 2024.

Currently he is working on the ecology and control of an exotic invasive malaria vector Anopheles stephensi and urban malaria epidemiology and leading a project on multi-model data integration and knowledge creation tool (MMDI-KIT) using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop infectious diseases outbreak and transmission risk prediction model.

. Scholarly Achievements

Overall, he authored and co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles, 2 book chapters (peer reviewed) and 4 policy briefs.

Professional Services

Currently, he is the President of Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA) Ethiopia Chapter and Executive Committee Member for Pan-African Plasmodium vivax and P. ovale Network (PAVON) secretariat. He is Vice President for Ethiopian Society of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (ESTIDs) and Chair for Scientific Committee for Ethiopian Malaria Research Network (EMRN) and Chair for Mentorship program for TDR Global Ethiopia Node (TDRGEN). He has been involved in Malaria Program Review and document development for the National Malaria Eliminating Program (NMCP). He is a member of the national malaria technical advisory committee (TAC) and Co-chair for the national vector control working group (VCWG) of Ethiopia. He is also a standing member of WHO/AFRO Network for Vector Resistance (ANVR). He has contributed in guideline/strategy development for the NMCP of Ethiopia. Member of WHO Consultation Group in Anopheles stephensi.

He is serving as Editorial Board or Associate Editor or Reviewer for 28 Scientific Journals

He offered several trainings on basic malariology, vector surveillance, control and elimination to the staff of the national malaria elimination program, regional health bureaus and Zonal health department of Ethiopia, staff of Djibouti, Somalia, Yemen national malaria control programs, staff of the Central Command of The Ethiopian Army. He evaluated a number of candidate vector control tools and malaria diagnostic kits. He has contributed in guideline/strategy document development and he has been involved in Malaria Program Review (MPR) and document development of the National Malaria Eliminating Program (NMCP) of Ethiopia. He co-developed research mentorship guide line  to enhance research in Ethiopia. He made several webinar presentations on current malaria and other vector-borne diseases epidemiology landscape: Emerging challenges and control responses.

Consultancy Services

He has been providing professional consultancy service for various national and international organizations (both government and non-government) working on disease prevention and control such as RTI International, Abt Associates,VectorLink Ethiopia, PMI/USAID, Vestergard Frandsen, Syngenta Crop, Mutsi, Sumitomo Chemical, Fast Track Diagnostics, Access Biosciences, PMI Evolve and others.

Recognitions and awards

He was a recipient of 64th American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting travel award for young investigators, researchers and scientists in Tropical Medicine. 25 October 2015, Philadelphia, USA.

He has been recognized with medal and certificate by Jimma University as an outstanding researcher at the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2020, a certificate and trophy for his contribution in establishing and leading TIDRC in 2024. He is also fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (EAS) as of December 2020 and received a certificate of recognition as a nominee for ASTMH Distinguished International Fellow in 2021.

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