Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum’s Parasites and Vectors division of the NHM works on a diverse range of parasites and pests using the huge biodiversity of current entomological (flies and mosquitoes), acari (ticks and mites) and helminth (nematodes, trematodes and cestodes) collections together with samples from endemic disease areas.

The NHM has a long standing research focus on schistosomiasis, and holds an extensive schistosome and snail host repository called the Schistosomiasis Collection at the Natural History Museum (SCAN) and is a 'WHO Collaborating Centre for the identification and characterisation of schistosomes and their snail hosts'.

The NHM also holds a diverse and expanding collection of NTD vector specimens from a wide geographical range. Medical entomology experts at the museum use the collections to research the phylogeny, evolution and diversity of NTD vector species.  The parasites and vectors collections and research expertise at the NHM is a valuable resource to researchers working on the biology, epidemiology and control of Neglected Tropical Diseases