Rate My Professor Christopher Vitek

Dr. Christopher Vitek is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), a position he has held since August 2008. He serves as the Director of the Center for Vector-Borne, Zoonotic, and Emerging Diseases (CVBZED), advancing research, education, and community outreach to address vector-borne threats in South Texas. Vitek earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, in 1993, followed by a Ph.D. in Biology from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 2004. He then completed a postdoctoral position in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida, from November 2004 to July 2008.

Vitek's academic interests center on vector biology within Biology, encompassing medical entomology, mosquito ecology, disease ecology, and insecticide resistance management. His research examines Aedes aegypti, Culex, Anopheles mosquitoes, and ticks, focusing on factors influencing disease transmission such as Zika virus, dengue, and zoonotic pathogens. Studies include temperature effects on insecticide susceptibility, seasonal resistance variations along the US-Mexico border, invasive plant influences on vector behavior, host preferences, microbiomes, and novel longitudinal sampling methods. Vitek and his students conduct field surveillance and laboratory experiments contributing to vector control strategies. Notable publications include "Arbovirus Transmission by Culex nigripalpus in Florida, 2005" (Journal of Medical Entomology), "Temperatures Influence Susceptibility to Insecticides in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus" (Pathogens, 2021), "Insecticide Resistance in Aedes aegypti Varies Seasonally and Between Neighboring Towns Along the US-Mexico Border" (Journal of Medical Entomology, 2022), "A Method for Repeated, Longitudinal Sampling of Individual Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes" (Journal of Medical Entomology, 2021), and "Phylogenomics reveals the history of host use in mosquitoes" (Systematic Entomology, 2023). His scholarship has amassed 1,069 citations on Google Scholar, with an h-index of 18.