Professor Fiona Hunter, a professor of Medical and Veterinary Entomology at Brock University in Canada, studies mosquito-borne diseases like Zika and West Nile virus in Canada, far from the tropics where these diseases are endemic. She believes that her research is relevant to her country and others such as Singapore.
Currently, she wants to study how diseases like Zika could be spread by vectors that nobody would suspect, such as other mosquito species. Yesterday, she told the Straits Times at the opening of the Commonwealth Science Conference that people should not be narrow minded into thinking that it is just spread by one species.
Prof Hunter is speaking today on the first day of the three-day conference attended by more than 400 participants from 37 Commonwealth countries.
The conference aims to strengthen international scientific collaboration, with travel grants, cross-border collaboration awards and fellowship programmes by both the National Research Foundation and the Royal Society.
Emerging infectious diseases is one of the four themes of the conference. At the opening ceremony yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, the guest of honour, noted how these topics, including sustainable cities, low carbon energy and the oceans, are important areas of research for Singapore.
Royal Society president Venki Ramakrishnan said he hoped to see science influencing policy in the Commonwealth, and scientists engaging more with policymaking.
Noted speakers include the chief executive of Google DeepMind, Dr Demis Hassabis, whose firm developed the artificial intelligence program AlphaGo. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, was also the guest of honour at the opening ceremony.
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Source: The Straits Times, 14 June 2017