A Dynamo, a Maverick and an Inspiration

 The competition was fierce.

We're talking 800 postdoctoral scholars on the UC Davis campus, 12 finalists and two winners.

Chemical ecologist Zain Syed, who helped discover the mode of action for the insect repellent DEET in the Walter Leal lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology, emerged as one of the two winners.

The occasion: the sixth annual postdoctoral scholar research awards, sponsored by the UC Davis Postdoctoral  Scholars’ Association and the Office of Graduate Studies.

Syed and fellow recipient Izumi Maezawa of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Davis Health System, each received a certificate and a $500 cash prize.

So, the next time you’re applying DEET to ward off mosquitoes, you can thank Leal and Syed for why mosquitoes won’t go near you. For the past 50 years, scientists assumed that DEET jams the senses of a mosquito or masks the smell of the host.

Not so. Mosquitoes can smell DEET and they avoid it because it smells bad to them. No jamming. No masking. Just a smell that's not in their comfort zone.

The chemical ecologists identified the olfactory receptor neuron in the antenna that detects the repellent. Their work led to one of the most popular research articles ever published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The research paper has been loaded 9317 times from August 2008 through April 2009.  

What this research means is we may see a whole new direction in the development of novel and promising insect repellents.

Syed, a native of India, received his bachelor of science degree in combined sciences (botany, zoology and chemistry) and his master’s degree in agricultural entomology from universities in India. He earned his doctorate in sensory physiology and behavior at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland before joining  the Leal lab in 2005. .

 “Zain has an an encyclopedic knowledge of the literature and he designs well-thought experiments,” said Leal, also praising him as “a good mentor to students in the department, college and elsewhere on campus.”

 “Zain is the type of postdoc that every principal investigator dreams about one day having in their own laboratory,” wrote professor Gabrielle Nevitt of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences, in her letter of support. “He is a dynamo, a maverick and an inspiration to be around….he is one of the most talented, smart and inquisitive individuals I have come across at UC Davis.”

Entomology professor Penelope Gullan, who supported the nomination, said: "As a faculty member in the same department as Dr. Syed, I have watched his research progress and accomplishments over the past four years. His recent achievements have been truly outstanding in terms of significant research findings and publications in highly rated journals."

A dynamo, a maverick and an inspiration: mosquitoes beware!