Dr. Patricia Scaraffia, an assistant professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, has been awarded $1.9 million over five years from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study how Aedes aegypti mosquitoes metabolize ammonia. A better understanding of mosquito metabolism could lead to the discovery of novel ways to control the spread of viruses like Zika, dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya, which are spread by Ae. aegypti.