The research efforts are focused on molecular studies of culicids of publich health importance, as the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae and the arboviral vectors Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti. More specifically, research interests are concentrated on the following topics: (i) saliva of culicid vectors and its role in hematophagy, pathogen transmission and vector-host-pathogen interactions; (ii) development of immunoassays based on mosquito salivary antigens for the evaluation of human exposure to disease vector; (iii) transcriptome studies on key mosquito organs involved in vector-host-pathogen interactions (e.g., salivary glands, midgut, olfactory and immune systems); (iv) studies on microRNAs and on exosome microvesicles from the saliva of Anopheles ed Aedes mosquitoes. A more recently initiated research study deals (v) with gene expression and non-coding RNA analyses in African ethnic groups with different susceptibility to malaria.