Center for Vector Biology at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station

Larvae of the mosquito vectors of West Nile Virus. Photo by Jim Occi.

Researcher doing molecular work in a CVB laboratory.

Two invasive mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus des japonicus.

Distribution of mosquito traps for a community-based project.

A BG Sentinel trap for surveillance of Asian tiger mosquitoes.

The Culex genomics team meeting virtuallly during Covid-19.

Questing American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis. Photo by Jim Occi.

CVB researchers demonstrate tick surveillance in the field.

The Center for Vector Biology (CVB) was founded with a dual mission: conducting research on insects that transmit disease agents such as mosquitoes, and using these findings to enhance the quality of life for residents in New Jersey. Researchers at CVB delve into pest and pathogen biology, ecology, evolution, and management. Equipped with a cutting-edge molecular laboratory that develops and employs highly sensitive DNA-based tools, as well as USDA-accredited ACL2 insectary facilities for colony maintenance, CVB stands at the forefront of vector-borne disease research.

In close collaboration with mosquito control professionals in the 21 New Jersey counties as well as with the state departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection, and Health and Senior Services, CVB upholds a rich legacy that traces back to the groundbreaking contributions of Rutgers Entomology professor J. B. Smith, who in 1912 successfully started the first areawide Mosquito Control Programs across NJ. A century later, this dedication to preventing nuisance as well as disease extended to combating invasive Asian tiger mosquitoes.

Recognizing the imperative to expand surveillance and research to ticks, in 2018 CVB organized the "NJ Tick Blitz," assessing the feasibility of statewide surveillance. This pioneering effort, which has since been emulated by other states, has evolved into the NJticks4Science citizen science project, engaging the public in vital surveillance of ticks and tick-borne diseases.

Center for Vector Biology

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