Summer School on Mathematics in Biology in Medicine

September 20-24, 2004

Jacob Koella

Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris 6), France

Biography

After having received a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the ETH Zurich, Jacob Koella started to work on problems of evolutionary ecology as a PhD student of Steve Stearns, with whom in 1986 he co-authored an influential paper about life-history theory. His scientific career continued in several countries until he ended up as the creator and director of the Department of Evolutionary Parasitology in Paris, France. Jacob KoellaÕs research interests lie in the evolutionary ecology of host-parasite interactions, trying to understand the complex co-evolutionary dynamics by combining theoretical models, laboratory experiments and field investigations of several host-parasite systems.

This approach has led to several major results. First, Jacob Koella has shown, in contrast to general assumptions, that malaria parasites increase the mortality of their mosquito vectors. Furthermore, he used this system to provide one of the rare tests of the basic theory about the evolution of virulence. While virulence decreases the life-span of the parasite, it also increases the rate of transmission, so that evolutionary pressure will lead to an intermediate level of virulence that balances the advantages and disadvantages of parasite-induced mortality. Second, he has shown that the parasite's development and its life cycle are determined not only by its own genes, but are also influenced by the host's environment and genes. His theoretical models have shown that this can have profound implications for the evolutionary outcome of the host-parasite interaction. Third, he has used evolutionary ideas about the mosquito's resistance against malaria to predict the conditions under which malaria control with genetically manipulated mosquitoes might be possible. This research makes particularly clear that epidemiology and disease control cannot be understood without explicit consideration of the complexity and evolutionary potential of the parasite.

Overall, Jacob Koella has published 67 articles in the major journals of evolutionary biology.