The STOP-MATING Consortium Workshop took place on 23 April 2026 at Ci2A-CSIC (Alaclá de Henares-Madrid). During the event, the consortium presented the objectives of the project and the vector control approaches under investigation to disrupt mosquito mating and reduce disease transmission.

Invited speakers contributed valuable perspectives on citizen science in mosquito surveillance and control, the potential impact of climate change on mosquito distribution, and the importance of adopting a holistic approach when evaluating vector control strategies.

The general discussion highlighted the importance of dialogue across research disciplines to effectively address mosquito-borne diseases and emphasized the value of interdisciplinary collaboration within the One Health framework.

We would like to thank all participants and contributors whose engagement made this workshop a succes

The STOP-MATING project is pleased to announce an upcoming scientific workshop  dedicated to exploring innovative strategies to disrupt mosquito mating for vector control.

The event will take place on 23 April 2026 in a hybrid format (on-site and online), offering participants the opportunity to join either in person or remotely.

What to expect

This workshop will present the latest progress of the STOP-MATING project and bring together experts working on novel approaches to control disease-transmitting mosquitoes.

The session will include:

• An overview of the STOP-MATING project and its objectives
• Presentations on recent advances in mosquito mating disruption strategies
• Insights and discussion with leading researchers in the field

Invited speakers

The workshop will feature contributions from:

• David Roiz (Institute for Game and Wildlife Research, CSIC, Spain)
• Ruth Müller (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium)
• Frederic Bartumeus (Center for Advanced Studies, CSIC, Spain)

Time and place

• Date: 23 April 2026
• Time: 15:00 (CET)
• Location: CI2A-CSIC, Avda. de León 1, 28005, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid (Spain)
• Format: Hybrid event
• Duration: Approximately 2–3 hours

As part of the STOP-MATING project, Celine joined the Crisanti Lab at Imperial College London for a five-month secondment. Her work focuses on developing genetic tools to disrupt mosquito mating behaviour, with particular attention to Culex pipiens, a key vector of public health importance. During her stay, Celine is adapting molecular methods used in malaria mosquitoes to Culex, performing transcriptomic analyses of swarming genes and CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockout experiments. The aim of her research is to identify and validate genes whose disruption could interfere with mosquito swarming. Upon returning to the Spaccapelo Lab at the University of Perugia, Celine will evaluate the swarming behaviour of the targeted Culex mosquito lines to further advance innovative and sustainable gene-editing-based vector control strategies.