About

Dr Raphaël N'Guessan is an internationally recognised medical entomologist with over 30 years of experience in malaria vector control research. He is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), a member of its Malaria Centre, and Founder and Director of the Vector Control Product Evaluation Centre (VCPEC-IPR) in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire.

He began his scientific career in 1993 at the Institut Pierre Richet before joining the LSHTM in 2002. In 2004 he began working with a partner institution, the Centre de Recherche Entomologique de Cotonou (CREC) in Benin, where he established a laboratory dedicated to innovative vector control technologies and scientific capacity building. He obtained his MSc from the LSHTM in 2006 and a PhD in Medical Entomology from Wageningen University & Research in 2009.

His pioneering research in southern Benin identified a form of pyrethroid resistance that posed a major threat to the effectiveness of insecticide-treated nets across Africa. In response, he investigated novel insecticidal active ingredients, particularly chlorfenapyr, laying the scientific foundations for a new generation of malaria vector control tools. This work contributed to the development of Interceptor G2, a dual-active ingredient mosquito net combining chlorfenapyr and alpha-cypermethrin, developed and evaluated by his research team in Benin in 2016. Interceptor G2 subsequently became an important innovation in malaria prevention, offering improved protection against insecticide-resistant mosquito populations.

More recently, he has collaborated with manufacturers, particularly VKA Polymers (India), to accelerate the development and market introduction of innovative mosquito nets. This includes PRONet Duo, a chlorfenapyr-bifenthrin net that demonstrated superior mosquito mortality and blood-feeding prevention compared with Interceptor G2 in experimental hut trials in Côte d'Ivoire and Tanzania, and achieved WHO prequalification in 2025.

He also contributed to a landmark clinical trial published in NEJM Evidence (2026), demonstrating the superior protection of PBO-pyrethroid and chlorfenapyr-pyrethroid nets against malaria in children compared with conventional nets in highly resistant areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

In 2016, he established the Vector Control Product Evaluation Centre (VCPEC-IPR) in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, inaugurated in 2019 and certified compliant with the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice in 2023. The Centre aims to generate high-quality scientific evidence on the efficacy of innovative vector control products, particularly against insecticide-resistant malaria vectors. Through rigorous laboratory and field evaluations, VCPEC-IPR supports product development, regulatory decision-making, and WHO prequalification, while strengthening African research capacity and accelerating access to effective malaria prevention technologies. His current research integrates experimental entomology, epidemiological trials, and community-level evaluations to translate scientific innovation into effective malaria prevention strategies and measurable public health impact.

Beyond his research achievements, Dr N'Guessan provides expert scientific advice to national malaria control programmes in Côte d'Ivoire and Benin on evidence-based vector control strategies, particularly in settings affected by insecticide resistance. He has also served on the World Health Organization Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) working group and on the WHO Evidence Review Group.

Education

• PhD in medical entomologyWageningen University & Research2009
• MSc Control of Infectious DiseasesLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine2006
• Civil engineeringENSTP, Yamoussoukro