Insectary Manager at Kenya Medical Research - KEMRI

Position summary

The candidate will be expected to lead the setup of the insectary facilities in accordance with the needs of an insectary specific to malaria vectors, establish a colony of insecticide-susceptible Anopheles arabiensis using field collected larvae.

Job Specification

• Provide technical support for the root setup of an insectary lab.
• Draft SOPs for insectary maintenance, colony monitoring and quality assurance in accordance with best practices.
• Setup monitoring systems: temperature, humidity, pupation rate, blood feeding and oviposition rates.
• Lead larval and adult resting collections in Kwale for colony setup.
• Conduct insecticide susceptibility tests and selection of susceptible F1 mosquitoes for colony setup.
• Oversee colony adaptation and stabilization to insectary setting.
• Cooperate with senior and junior scientists when needed for setting up of experiments.

Person specification

• Diploma Certificate in a relevant field.
• KCSE with minimum D+.
• At least 5 years of experience maintaining a colony of Anopheles mosquitoes.
• Solid understanding of mosquito life cycle and biology.
• Experience with larval collections.
• Experience with adult resting collections.
• Experience drafting standard operating procedures.