Scott Ritchie

Professor Ritchie leads a diverse group of health practitioners and research scientists whose collective goal is to prevent vector-borne disease, especially dengue, in north Queensland.  From 1994 – 2011 he was employed as Director, Medical Entomology at the Tropical Regional Services (formerly Tropical Public Health Unit), the preventative health arm of Queensland Health in North Queensland Australia.  There he helped develop the world recognised Dengue Fever Management Plan for north Queensland.  He is currently employed as a National Health & Medical Research Council Professorial Research Fellow at the James Cook University’s College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, and the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine in Cairns Australia.  Prof. Ritchie’s research has centred upon control of vector-borne diseases, especially dengue. He has been a involved in two large projects utilising the bacterium Wolbachia to prevent the dengue vector Aedes aegypti from transmitting dengue viruses. He is also researching new pesticides for the control of Ae. aegypti and the development of novel passive mosquito traps for the detection of pathogens in mosquitoes and other disease vectors.