New article from the lab published in Immunity & Ageing: Warmer temperature accelerates senescence by modifying the aging-dependent changes in the mosquito transcriptome, altering immunity, metabolism, and DNA repair. doi.org/10.1186/s129...

Today was the Undergraduate Research Symposium ⁦ @vanderbilt.edu . Great time for the lab to get together, and great presentations by Norbu Shastri and Puspa Shah! ⁩

Consider contributing an article to the special issue of MDPI Insects titled "Insect Vector Physiology and Competence: Interactions and Adaptations". Questions? DM me.

New paper from the lab! When a mosquito ingests blood, the phagocytic activity of hemocytes increases with warmer environmental temperature and aging @vanderbilt.edu @vuartsci.bsky.social @evolutionvu.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.ji...

New paper: Phagocytic hemocytes, independent of pericardial cells, modulate cellular immune responses on the dorsal vessel of mosquitoes, including the infection-induced reduction of the heart rate @vanderbilt.edu @evolutionvu.bsky.social @vuartsci.bsky.social doi.org/10.1007/s004...

Excited to announce our latest article, with possibly the longest title ever. We demonstrate how warmer temperature accelerates the aging-dependent changes to the reproductive tissues of mosquitoes. @vanderbilt.edu @vuartsci.bsky.social @evolutionvu.bsky.social doi.org/10.3390/inse...

Biological Sciences seminar series @vanderbilt.edu kicked off for the year with Dr. Ryan Smith @vectorimmunity.bsky.social presenting on his new discoveries on mosquito hemocytes. Great talk!

Happy to announce that I added a new role @vanderbilt.edu : Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the Graduate School. I'm excited to go on this journey with Dean André Christie-Mizell, Associate Dean Andrea Page-McCaw, and the Graduate School team.

With the summer term having just ended, I'm super proud of Puspa Shah for her summer research as part of the Vanderbilt University Summer Research Program. @vanderbilt.edu @vuartsci.bsky.social

Proud to announce our latest research! Warmer temperature accelerates reproductive senescence in mosquitoes. @vanderbilt.edu @evolutionvu.bsky.social @vuartsci.bsky.social doi.org/10.3389/fphy...

Hillyer lab lunch! @vuartsci.bsky.social @vanderbilt.edu @evolutionvu.bsky.social

Cellular immune senescence in mosquitoes accelerates when the temperature is warmer. Great research by then grad student Dr. Jordyn Barr and then undergrad Saksham Saksena published in Developmental and Comparative Immunology. @vanderbilt.edu @evolutionvu.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.dc...

Congratulations to the 2025 @vanderbilt.edu Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Student Award winners! @vuartsci.bsky.social

Histamine and serotonin alter retinal sensitivity in mosquitoes. Great research by @shirleyluckhart.bsky.social and colleagues. doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Super congrats to Dr. Jordyn Barr for receiving her PhD diploma @vanderbilt.edu #VU2025 . She is an amazing scientist!

Hillyer lab lunch!

Identification of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and co-transcriptional analysis of mRNAs and lncRNAs in transcriptomes of Anopheles gambiae doi.org/10.3389/frna...

Congrats to Dr. Jordyn Barr (center) for successfully defending her PhD‬⁩ @vanderbilt.edu ‬⁩ @vuartsci.bsky.social !

I’ll share a positive. We had a great lab lunch this week. I am super proud of my team for their scholarship, their dedication, their collaborative spirit, and coming together to form a family. I’m very fortunate to lead this team! @vanderbilt.edu @vuartsci.bsky.social @evolutionvu.bsky.social

New paper in collabroation with @joshuabenoit.bsky.social lab! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New work with my longtime collaborator and friend Mike Riehle and his team. Fascinating to begin to unravel the biology of vitamin B5/pantothenate in Anopheles stephensi. More to come on this.

Sharing this again. Please share widely with any interested students. Puerto Rico is an amazing place to work. Deadline is in about a month but need to conduct interviews with prospective candidates well before then.

246/250 is Warmer environmental temperature accelerates aging in mosquitoes, decreasing longevity and worsening infection outcomes I'm very grateful to the people who can do this necessary, careful lab work that we'll need to model climate change impacts on vectors!

One more highlight of 2024. Grad students Cole Meier (graduated) and Shabbir Ahmed and their paper in Developmental & Comparative Immunology: Extracellular matrix proteins Pericardin and Lonely heart mediate periostial hemocyte aggregation in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae doi.org/10.1016/j.dc...

As we end 2024, and continuing to highlight grad student Lindsay Martin, here is her paper in @jexpbiol.bsky.social : Senescence of humoral antimicrobial immunity occurs in infected mosquitoes when the temperature is higher doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

Next up to highlight as we end 2024 is grad student Lindsay Martin and her paper in PLOS Pathogens: Higher temperature accelerates the aging-dependent weakening of the melanization immune response in mosquitoes doi.org/10.1371/jour...

With 2024 coming to an end, I'll do a select lab recap. First, grad student Jordyn Barr and her work published in Immunity & Ageing: Warmer environmental temperature accelerates aging in mosquitoes, decreasing longevity and worsening infection outcomes doi.org/10.1186/s129...

Our brand new review on type 2 immunity in malaria with terrific colleagues Renee Tsolis and Adrian Piliponsky highlighting the roles of mast cells and basophils in orchestrating the host response to infection and parasite transmission to Anopheles mosquitoes.

Hillyer Lab lunch (without the undergrads, who are on break)

New paper on #microclimate effects on #arbovirus transmission from my lab just out! As always, proud of my team! #zika #chikungunya www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/13...

New paper from the lab! Activation of the immune deficiency pathway (IMD) reduces the mosquito heart rate via a nitric oxide-based mechanism published in Journal of Insect Physiology doi.org/10.1016/j.ji...

Joining Bluesky! I am a Professor at Vanderbilt University. My lab studies insect physiology, concentrating on the immune and circulatory systems of mosquitoes. As a means of introduction, over the next few days I will post some of our recent papers. I'm excited to join Bluesky!