Employee of the Month: Steve Matheny

The Sanaria employee of the month for June 2022 is Steve Matheny. Steve is a member of the Mosquito Production team.  In recent weeks, Steve has taken on a raft of new responsibilities with the dependability and positive approach that is typical of his character.  Steve took on the role of ensuring that individuals are screened before coming to Sanaria, checking COVID statistics that are reported every week, and liaising with the medical team to monitor staff who might be exposed to COVID.  In addition, Steve has worked hard to ensure that we have a functioning colony of Anopheles dirus at IBBR in readiness for Plasmodium knowlesi infections and a second colony of Anopheles stephensi  for Plasmodium yoelii infections.  An. dirus is not an easy mosquito to maintain yet Steve has quickly adapted our methods to achieve success with this species.  Steve has also been instrumental in setting up the laboratory space for our fluorescence microscopes, working to provide the core structure into which microscopes have been successfully installed.

Steve has been managing the maintenance of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes since the inception of Sanaria and has established robust mosquito safety protocols to which he has trained every new employee. He also plays an important role in aseptic mosquito production. Endowed with a ‘can do’ attitude, he has been wearing several different hats such as safety officer, chemical safety officer, and providing as-needed support for many of Sanaria’s activities.