Professor Philip McCall

Biography

Philip McCall is Everett-Dutton Professor of Medical Entomology at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). He studied Biology (BSc Cork) and Animal Parasitology (MSc Bangor) before his PhD investigating the vectors of bovine onchocerciasis at the University of Liverpool/LSTM in 1987.

In 1990 Philip was awarded a Wellcome Trust Advanced Training Fellowship and worked with Ted Turlings and Jim Tumlinson on tritrophic interactions and host location by parasitic hymenoptera at the Center for Medical, Agricultural & Veterinary Entomology in Florida.

Prior to joining LSTM in 1998, his research was on the simulium vectors of onchocerciasis in Africa, based in UK, the Netherlands (Wageningen) and Mali (with Onchocerciasis Control Programme).

Research interests

Philip’s main research interest is in the behaviour of arthropod disease vectors, from characterisation of basic vector behaviour to understanding how those behaviours might change in response to insecticide challenge or shifts in host availability. Many gaps exist in understanding of key behavioural events in the adult life of these mosquitoes and better knowledge, however simple, has the potential to guide efforts to refine and improve the performance of existing approaches.

His research aims are often defined or refined by the activities and outputs of the other teams working in the department on closely related topics.

Philip’s current active work includes studies on movement and resting behaviours of anopheles gambiae and aedes aegypti within the peri-domestic environment, leading to new testing protocols for evaluating insecticidal nets, barrier bednets, and black-painted skirtings for control of malaria and dengue vectors.

Teaching

Philip delivers lectures on vector behaviour and control to the MSc and Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene courses and supervises short student projects that are completed for the MSv or mRes qualifications. He also supervises longer-term projects (2-3 years) carried out by PhD students.

 

Selected research publications

Interpreting Time-Series Machine Learning Models through Domain-Informed Basis Functions – Published: 13th October 2025

Machine learning reveals immediate disruption in mosquito flight when exposed to Olyset nets – Journal: Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases – Published: 8th June 2025

Entomological surveillance of onchocerciasis in Burkina Faso: Progress towards interrupting transmission in blackflies in the main river basins of the country – Journal: Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases – Published: 2nd May 2025

Discrimination of inherent characteristics of susceptible and resistant strains of Anopheles gambiae by explainable artificial intelligence analysis of flight trajectories – Journal: Scientific Reports – Published: 25th February 2025

High pyrethroid resistance is associated with high frequencies of 1014F and 1014S kdr mutations in Anopheles arabiensis (Diptera: Culicidae) from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – Journal: Journal of Medical Entomology – Published: 20th December 2024

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