Royal Entomological Society of London names Kansas State University's Dana Vanlandingham a fellow
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015
MANHATTAN — Dana Vanlandingham, assistant professor of virology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, has been named a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London.
Vanlandingham was nominated by Anthony A. James, distinguished professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of California, Irvine and member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Fellowship in the Royal Entomological Society is based on the criteria of making a substantial contribution to entomology through publications or other evidence of achievement. A Committee of Council reviews applications and nominations, looking at achievements possible over six years of productive work.
"It's quite an honor to be nominated by Dr. James and an even bigger honor to be accepted as a fellow of the society," said Vanlandingham, who works at Kansas State University's diagnostic medicine and pathobiology department. "This society has been around since 1833 and I saw that Charles Darwin was a member, so this is very exciting."
Department head M.M. Chengappa said, "This is an outstanding accomplishment. We're very lucky to have faculty of such high caliber in our department and college."
Tammy Beckham, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, said, "This kind of recognition helps create a global reputation of excellence for Kansas State University. We're very proud of Dr. Vanlandingham and look forward to seeing her continue to make profound contributions in animal health research as her career progresses."
Vanlandingham specializes in zoonotic viruses transmitted by mosquitoes and conducts her research at Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute. She currently has more than $2.2 million in funding as a principal investigator and 58 peer-reviewed publications.
"My research is focused on the interactions between arboviruses, the mosquito vector and the vertebrate host," Vanlandingham said. "We have several projects working on viruses such as chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis and Rift Valley fever in various mosquito vectors."
Vanlandingham is part of Kansas State University's Academy of Fellows that was established in 2013 to honor faculty members who are nominated or elected by their colleagues as fellows in their discipline-based professional societies. The goals of the academy are to bring junior colleagues to the forefront by nominating them for awards and to further 2025 goals.
