Alex Eapen

Dr Alex Eapen’s scientific work since 1988 has been operational research of public health importance, focusing mainly on vector-borne diseases such as Malaria, Dengue, and Chikungunya. The scientific projects, translated to the national control program, include the operational feasibility of bioenvironmental control of malaria vectors in Chennai, India. This led to the development of the ‘Seven-point Action Plan for Malaria Control in urban areas’, which has been implemented in India.

Further, the stratification of Dindigul municipality in Tamil Nadu, India, for a Geographical Information System (GIS) based malaria surveillance system led to its implementation for operational management (first time in the health sector- India) in 1999. Dr Eapen was actively involved in the discovery of a new larvivorous fish, Puntius sharmai (1992), a new sibling species of Anopheles culicifacies complex (Species E), a malaria vector in Rameswaram Island, India (1999) and a new mosquito species, Heizmannia rajagopalani in Kerala, India (2019). The therapeutic efficacy of antimalarials (chloroquine) against Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum resulted in the detection of a high level of chloroquine resistance in Tamil Nadu, India, which changed the drug regimen for P. falciparum. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) and methods to mitigate mosquito/vector breeding in Chennai, India, gave rise to an action plan with environment-friendly designs. Bionomics of Anopheles stephensi, an urban malaria vector, about its breeding, resting and feeding behaviour was investigated, and the findings were translated into the program.

Environmental monitoring of vector breeding habitats identified Overhead tanks as the potential breeding habitat with a strong positive correlation to fluoride influencing oviposition of An. stephensi. The temperature-related studies on An. stephensi and microclimate have provided significant findings that small differences in mean or diurnal temperature ranges can lead to large variations in mosquito and/or parasite life history traits that determine transmission intensity. 

Dr Eapen was involved in the outbreak investigations of Malaria, Dengue, and Chikungunya in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha in India, interacting with public health officials to resolve the problems and provide timely scientific guidance and technical solutions. Dr Eapen was also part of the high-level investigation committee for a situation analysis of the post-flood scenario in Kottayam district in Kerala, India (2018), the findings/recommendations of which were shared with the state health department and Govt. of India. Dr Eapen was PI/ Co-PI in several international projects like WHOPES, Geneva, Fogarty International Center Training and research grant and the Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India, funded by NIH (NIAID), USA. The scientific studies highlighted integrated environmental vector management methods to eliminate malaria and control other vector-borne diseases. Dr Eapen has several publications in peer-reviewed international journals like The Lancet, Nature Genetics, Scientific Reports (Nature), PLOS NTD, Parasites & Vectors, Malaria Journal, AJTMH, Journal of Fungi, etc. He is a reviewer in peer-reviewed international journals and an external examiner (PhD) for a few universities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in India. Dr Eapen has supervised and mentored three PhD students and is currently supervising seven doctoral students on various aspects of An. stephensi, and sub-microscopic malaria burden and its transmission potential in India.

He has received several international awards, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, the ICMR-DHR International fellowship, and scholarships from the US National Science Foundation's Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (NSF EEID) program. Dr Eapen is a faculty member for the Master of Public Health course at the School of Public Health, ICMRNational Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India, and an Expert Member of the research boards of several universities in Tamil Nadu, India. He is also a member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH), the American Committee of Medical Entomology (ACME), and a Chartered Biologist (C.Biol., London). He was felicitated as a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society (FRES), UK and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), UK. He is also an expert member of the ASTMH Annual Meeting Travel Award Committee, Scientific Program Committee and Young Investigator Award Committee. Dr Alex Eapen was a commissioner of the Lancet Commission for Malaria Eradication (LCME) and is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research.