Background
Dr. Magellan Tchouakui is a Cameroonian medical entomologist and Wellcome Early-Career Fellow in Infection and Immunobiology, jointly based at the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) in the United Kingdom. He obtained a PhD in Parasitology and Ecology from the University of Yaoundé I in 2020 and is also an Honorary Research Fellow at LSTM.
He also serves as a co-lead of the Unitaid-funded CANVeCT project, which evaluates the effectiveness, implementation potential, and environmental considerations of spatial repellents for malaria vector control. More recently, he was awarded the Alan J. Magill Fellowship to lead the ALERT programme (African Leadership for Evidence-driven Insecticide Resistance Tracking and Management in Malaria Vectors). ALERT seeks to strengthen leadership, promote subnationally tailored insecticide resistance surveillance, enhance molecular and genomic monitoring, facilitate policy translation, and foster equitable partnerships to support evidence-based insecticide resistance management in Cameroon and across Central Africa. The programme includes training opportunities with AHADI and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, structured engagement with WHO Prequalification and IVCC, mentorship of early-career African scientists, and the establishment of the African Insecticide Resistance Management Leadership Network (AIRM-Net).
Dr. Tchouakui’s broader ambition is to bridge cutting-edge vector biology research with implementation and policy. He works closely with national malaria control programmes to strengthen entomological surveillance and the use of evidence in decision-making, contributes to the development of surveillance guidelines, and supports the training and mentorship of the next generation of African scientists in malaria vector research.
Research:
| Dr Tchouakui’s research focuses on understanding how insecticide resistance evolves in African malaria vectors, its effects on mosquito fitness, longevity, vectorial capacity, and malaria transmission, and the implications of these changes for the effectiveness of vector control interventions. His work combines field entomology, molecular genetics, genomics, experimental hut studies, and the evaluation of novel vector control tools.
He has made significant contributions to advancing knowledge on the fitness costs and genetic architecture of metabolic insecticide resistance, the effectiveness of next-generation insecticide-treated nets, and the emergence of resistance to newer insecticide classes, including chlorfenapyr and neonicotinoids. His current Wellcome Early-Career Award investigates the fitness costs associated with insecticide resistance and the compensatory genetic mechanisms that enable resistant mosquitoes to persist in natural populations. |
- Areas of interest:
Disease vectors, malaria, agricultural pests, Anopheles, Fitness cost, Insecticide resistance, Insecticide resistance management, functional genomics, transcriptomics, modelling
- Research Areas:
Fitness cost of insecticide resistance and molecular basis of resistance to novel insecticides in malaria vectors
- Mentorship, Research Leadership, and Capacity Strengthening:
Dr Tchouakui has demonstrated a sustained commitment to mentorship and the development of the next generation of African scientists through the training and guidance of PhD and Master’s students at the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID) at outside Cameroon. His mentees include Natchema Fonkou Brice, Lamo Sonia, Tepa Arnaud, Tazokong Hervé, Mahamat Gadji, Tagne Djoko Carlos, Metissa Fleuriane, and Thiomela Ricardo, who have recently defended their PhD theses. He has also mentored approximately a dozen Master’s students who have completed their degrees.
Building on this commitment, he has established the Magellan Tchouakui Research Unit (MTRU) at CRID, guided by the vision of “linking state-of-the-art discoveries with epidemiological outcomes.” The unit brings together complementary expertise to investigate insecticide-resistance fitness costs, compensatory evolution, redox regulation, vector ecology including sugar-feeding, and mosquito reproductive success. Its research connects molecular and experimental discoveries with questions relevant to malaria transmission and vector-control effectiveness. His current team includes PhD students Tientcheu Claudine Raissa, Bebert Fotso, and Nadia Mane, alongside Master’s students, research assistants, technical staff, and interns.
Through this platform, Dr Tchouakui aims to foster an environment in which early-career researchers can develop scientific independence, collaborate across disciplines, and translate their findings into evidence relevant to public health. His long-term goal is to strengthen sustainable African research capacity and generate locally grounded discoveries that support progress towards malaria pre-elimination in Cameroon and contribute to malaria elimination efforts across the continent.
Other relevant expertise, professional memberships
| Serves as reviewer for various scientific journals such as:
1. Scientific reports 2. PLOS-One 3. Scientifific reports 4. Parasites and vectors, 5. Plos Negleted Tropical Diseases 6. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, etc Member of scientific and learned societies: 1. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH); 2. The US-UK Collab 3. RCN: Vector Behavior in Transmission Ecology (VectorBiTE) Network 4. Member of Antivec 5. BOVA and CONNECTED Networks 6. Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA). 7. Wellcome Discovery Research Early-Career Researcher Network 8. Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 9. Royal Entomological Society 10. Vector Control Working Group of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria 11. Alumini of the Harvard University “Science of Defeating Malaria” Course 2025 |
Publications |
| Dr Tchouakui has co-authored more than 70 research papers in various journals including in Science Translational Medicine, Nature communication, Cell Reports and Scientific Reports.
Key publications a) Monitoring development of resistance against novel insecticide classes Magellan Tchouakui, Carlos S. Djoko Tagne, Hervé R. Tazokong, Jonas A. Kengne Ouafo, Mersimine Kouamo, Derrick Fofie, Arnaud Tepa, Murielle Wondji, Sulaiman S. Ibrahim, Charles S. Wondji. A COEAE80 esterase variant and P450-suppression drive chlorfenapyr resistance in malaria vectors. [version 1]. VeriXiv, October 2025, 2:355 https://doi.org/10.12688/verixiv.2295.1 Magellan Tchouakui,Sulaiman S. Ibrahim, Mersimine K. Mangoua, Riccado F. Thiomela, Tatiane Assatse, Sonia L. Ngongang-Yipmo, Abdullahi Muhammad, Leon J.M. Mugenzi, Benjamin D. Menze,Themba Mzilahowa, Charles S. Wondji. Substrate promiscuity of key resistance P450s confers clothianidin resistance while increasing chlorfenapyr potency in malaria vectors.Cell Repports 43, 114566 Published:August 27, 2024.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114566. Tchouakui, M., Assatse, T., Tazokong, H.R., Oruni, A., Menze, B.D., Nguiffo-Nguete, D., Mugenzi, L.M.J., Kayondo, J., Watsenga, F., Mzilahowa, T., Osae, M., Wondji, C.S., 2023. Detection of a reduced susceptibility to chlorfenapyr in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae contrasts with full susceptibility in Anopheles funestus across Africa. Sci Rep 13, 2363. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29605-w Tchouakui, M., Assatse, T., Mugenzi, L.M.J., Menze, B.D., Nguiffo-Nguete, D., Tchapga, W., Kayondo, J., Watsenga, F., Manzambi, E.Z., Osae, M., Wondji, C.S., 2022. Comparative study of the effect of solvents on the efficacy of neonicotinoid insecticides against malaria vector populations across Africa. Infect Dis Poverty 11, 35. b) Fitness cost associated with Insecticide resistance in malaria vectors Tchouakui, M., Miranda, J. R., Mugenzi, L. M., Djonabaye, D., Wondji, M. J., Tchoupo, M., et al. 2020. Cytochrome P450 metabolic resistance (CYP6P9a) to pyrethroids imposes a fitness cost in the major African malaria vector Anophele s funestus. Heredity, 124, 621-632. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-020-0304-1 Tchouakui, M., Mugenzi, L. M., Wondji, M. J., Tchoupo, M., Njiokou, F., & Wondji, C. S. (2021). Combined over- expression of two cytochrome P450 genes exacerbates the fitness cost of pyrethroid resistance in the major African malaria vector Anopheles funestus. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 104772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pestbp.2021.104772 Tchouakui, M., Mugenzi, L. M. J., Wondji, M. J., Tchoupo, M., Njiokou, F. & Wondji, C. S. 2022. A 6.5kb Intergenic Structural Variation Exacerbates the Fitness Cost of P450-Based Metabolic Resistance in the Major African Malaria Vector Anopheles funestus. Genes, 13, 626. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13040626 Tchouakui, M., Riveron, J. M., Djonabaye, D., Tchapga, W., Irving, H., Takam, P. S.,Njiokou, F. & Wondji, C. S. 2018. Fitness Costs of the Glutathione S-Transferase Epsilon 2 (L119F-GSTe2) Mediated Metabolic Resistance to Insecticides in the Major African Malaria Vector Anopheles Funestus. Genes, 9, 645. Tchouakui, M., Chiang, M.-C., Ndo, C., Kuicheu, C. K., Amvongo-Adjia, N., Wondji, M. J., Tchoupo, M., Kusimo, M. O., Riveron, J. M. & Wondji, C. S. 2019. A marker of glutathione S-transferase-mediated resistance to insecticides is associated with higher Plasmodium infection in the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus. Scientific reports, 9, 5772. Tchouakui, M., Oruni, A., Assatse, T., Manyaka, C. R., Tchoupo, M., Kayondo, J. & Wondji, C. S. 2022. Fitness cost of target-site and metabolic resistance to pyrethroids drives restoration of susceptibility in a highly resistant Anopheles gambiae population from Uganda. PLoS One, 17, e0271347. c) Molecular basis of Insecticide resistance in malaria vectors and functional validation using RNAi and drosophila flies Mugenzi, L.M.J., Menze, B.D., Tchouakui, M., Wondji, M.J., Irving, H., Tchoupo, M., Hearn, J., Weedall, G.D., Riveron, J.M., Cho-Ngwa, F., Wondji, C.S., 2020. A 6.5-kb intergenic structural variation enhances P450-mediated resistance to pyrethroids in malaria vectors lowering bed net efficacy. Mol Ecol 29, 4395-4411. G. D. Weedall, L. M. J. Mugenzi, B. D. Menze, M. Tchouakui, S. S. Ibrahim, N. Amvongo-Adjia, H. Irving, M. J. Wondji, M. Tchoupo, R. Djouaka, J. M. Riveron, C. S. Wondji, A cytochrome P450 allele confers pyrethroid resistance on a major African malaria vector, reducing insecticide-treated bednet efficacy. Sci. Transl. Med. 11, eaat7386 (2019). Mugenzi LMJ, Menze BD, Tchouakui M, Wondji MJ, Irving H, Tchoupo M, Hearn J, Weedall GD, Riveron JM, Wondji CS. 2019. Cis-regulatory CYP6P9b P450 variants associated with loss of insecticide-treated bed net efficacy against Anopheles funestus. Nat Commun 10: 4652. Kouamo, M. F., Ibrahim, S. S., Hearn, J., Riveron, J. M., Kusimo, M., Tchouakui, M., Ebai, T., Tchapga, W., Wondji, M. J. & Irving, H. 2021. Genome-wide transcriptional analysis and functional validation linked a cluster of epsilon glutathione S-transferases with insecticide resistance in the major malaria vector Anopheles funestus across Africa. Genes, 12, 561. d) Impact of resistance on efficacy of bed nets using in lab and Experimental huts Tchakounte, A., Tchouakui, M., Mu-Chun, C., Tchapga, W., Kopia, E., Soh, P. T., Njiokou, F., Riveron, J. M. & Wondji, C. S. 2019. Exposure to the insecticide-treated bednet PermaNet 2.0 reduces the longevity of the wild African malaria vector Anopheles funestus but GSTe2-resistant mosquitoes live longer. PLoS One, 14, e0213949. Ngongang-Yipmo, E. S., Tchouakui, M., Menze, B. D., Mugenzi, L. M., Njiokou, F., & Wondji, C. S. (2022). Reduced performance of community bednets against pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles funestus and Anopheles gambiae, major malaria vectors in Cameroon. Parasites & Vectors, 15(1), 230. Menze BD, Mugenzi LMJ, Tchouakui M, Wondji MJ, Tchoupo M, Wondji CS. 2022. Experimental Hut Trials Reveal That CYP6P9a/b P450 Alleles Are Reducing the Efficacy of Pyrethroid-Only Olyset Net against the Malaria Vector Anopheles funestus but PBO-Based Olyset Plus Net Remains Effective. Pathogens 11. Tchouakui M, Mugenzi LMJ, D. Menze B, Khaukha JNT, Tchapga W, Tchoupo M, et al. Pyrethroid Resistance Aggravation in Ugandan Malaria Vectors Is Reducing Bednet Efficacy. Pathogens. 2021;10(4):415.
e) Review and Book Riveron, J. M., Tchouakui, M., Mugenzi, L., Menze, B. D., Chiang, M.-C. & Wondji, C.S. 2018. Insecticide resistance in malaria vectors: An update at a global scale. Towards Malaria Elimination- A Leap Forward. Intech Open. http:// dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78375. Suh, P. F., Elanga-Ndille, E., Tchouakui, M., Sandeu, M. M., Tagne, D., Wondji, C. S. & Ndo, C. 2023. Impact of insecticide resistance on malaria vector competence: a literature review. Malaria Journal, 22.
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