Projects in Public Health

Solutions Labs is working to advance public health by developing products that eradicate vectors of flying-insect-borne infectious diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, dengue, and West Nile encephalitis. These diseases currently threaten the combat effectiveness of military units operating in the tropical and desert areas, and epidemics increasingly devastate civilian populations in Asia and Africa. More recently, outbreaks of West Nile virus have spread along the East Coast of the United States.

Products currently being investigated include mechanical mosquito traps, electrostatic sandfly traps and acoustic-based sandfly and mosquito interdictors. These solutions will be effective, portable, low-powered and low cost. Because of their cost effectiveness, products targeted at the consumer market will not only be available in the United States but will also be sold in developing countries in Asia and Africa

Our existing team of Solutions Labs, MIT and Harvard affiliates includes public health entomologists, physicists and engineers. Such multi-disciplinary team is necessary to seek novel strategies and develop innovative products.