I worked as a research assistant with Dr. Bill Pan. As I developed my thesis, I found that it matched closely with the work of Dr. Pan’s Bass Connections project. My thesis centered around comparing the effectiveness of two different insecticides, permethrin and deltamethrin, that are used to treat bed nets to prevent insect borne diseases such as malaria.

Some areas in Peru are starting to use an insecticide, called malathion, which is a neurotoxin and may have long-term negative health effects. Permethrin and deltamethrin are currently approved for human usage while malathion is not.

I hope to collect and synthesize enough data so it is meaningful and will help the people here [in Peru]. The team has been great. Everyone gets along really well, which makes it easy to get our work done and have fun.

Excerpted from Q&A with 2016 Bass Connections Team Member Elizabeth Monahan. To learn more about the team’s work in Peru, view the Duke Global Health Institute’s multimedia feature and video.