Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, abbreviated as FORTH is the largest research institution in Greece consisting of six Institutes, among which, the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) at Heraklion, Crete. Over the past 35 years, the IMBB has had a prominent role in European basic research. The institute has gained its reputation through participation in Drosophila, Anopheles and human genome projects, and development of gene transfer technology in insects of economical and medical importance.

The coordinator, Dr. J Vontas , is a former Marie Curie Fellow, and a Group Leader at UoC/IMBB. He has almost 20 years of experience in insecticide resistance studies in disease vectors. He was one of the Project winners in a large international project aiming to develop new tools for resistance, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF), and he has also participated in a number of international consortia (FP7 AVECNET, INFRAVEC etc.). He is the Coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project entitled “Automated diagnostic platform, data management system and innovative communication tool, for improving the impact of malaria vector control interventions ” (2015-2019, 3M). He has been also heavily involved in the “New Paradigms for Vector Control” project (2012-13), at the IVCC, and during this period, had a chance to know a large number of various stakeholders in Africa.