![Dr Juliano Morimoto Dr Juliano Morimoto](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/s23jm9/avatar/wDK0eHSM3tpxqxdiCOMLzmqi6ygRNlP2BDAH4WdT.jpeg)
CStat, FRSB, FLS, FRES, FRSA, FHEA, MYAS
Senior Lecturer
- About
-
- Email Address
- juliano.morimoto@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 273218
- School/Department
- School of Natural and Computing Sciences
Biography
- BSc in Biological Sciences – Federal University of Paraná (Brazil) (2009-2013)
- DPhil in Zoology – University of Oxford (UK) (2013-2016)
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney (Australia) (2016-2017)
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Macquarie University (Australia) (2017-2019)
- Lecturer, University of Aberdeen (UK) (2020 – 2022)
- Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen (UK) (2022 – current)
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Race Equality Champion (School of Biological Sciences)
School EDI Lead (School of Biological Sciences)
EDI Committee (School of Biological Sciences)
- External Memberships
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- Elected Fellow of the College for Life Sciences (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin)
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB)
- Elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (FLS)
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society (FRES)
- Chartered Statistician by the Royal Statistical Society (CStat)
- Elected Member of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland (MYAS)
Latest Publications
Range size positively correlates with temperature and precipitation niche breadths but not with dietary niche breadth in triatomine insects, vectors of Chagas disease
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, vol. 18, no. 8, pp. e0012430Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012430
Turmeric shortens lifespan in houseflies
Frontiers in Insect Science, vol. 4, 1376011Contributions to Journals: ArticlesOptimum ratio of dietary protein and carbohydrate that maximises lifespan is shared among related insect species
Aging Cell, vol. 23, no. 3, e14067Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.14067
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/23062/1/Morimoto_AC_Optimum_Ratio_of_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Super food or Super toxic?: Turmeric and spirulina as culprits for the toxic effects of food dyes in Drosophila
Journal of Insect Physiology, vol. 153, 104600Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA novel protein-based fruit fly trap in melon flies Bactrocera cucurbitae for effective pest control management
Journal of Applied Entomology, vol. 147, no. 10, pp. 916-923Contributions to Journals: Articles
Prizes and Awards
Excellence Awards 2024: Best undegraduate supervisor
Fellow of the College for Life Sciences (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) (2024)
Member of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland (2022 – 2027)
Riemann Fellowship by the Institute for Differential Geometry (2022)
Young Researcher in Entomology Award VISTA Foundation (2022)
Royal Entomological Society Early Career Entomologist Award (2021)
- Research
-
Research Overview
- Nutritional Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Statistics applied to Animal Biology
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Biomedical Sciences, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Dentistry, Maths, Nutrition and Health.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Research Specialisms
- Nutrition
- Behavioural Biology
- Statistical Modelling
- Entomology
- Machine Learning
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
Nutrition is key to animal fitness and is a major factor underpinning evolution. My research aims to better understanding how animals interact with their food and the physiological, behavioural, and evolutionary consequences of these interactions to individuals, groups, and species. I am particularly interested in insects. There are three streams of research that I develop in my group: theoretical, empirical, and applied. I am also heavily involved in Outreach activities in Latin America, with opportunities to expand to other countries and continents (see below).
1) Theoretical
I develop new frameworks to analyse multidimensional nutritional data. To do this, I employ different statistical methods such as Machine Learning, Reinforcement Learning, and Vectors.
2) Empirical
My empirical research is based on testing and expanding previous theoretical models in evolutionary ecology. My main model organism for empirical work is the fly Drosophila melanogaster, although I am interested in the biology of most animals (especially insects).
3) Applied
In 2020, I started a new stream of research focusing on policies to guarantee food security and ecosystem health using insects as the study case. New projects include (but are not limited to) (i) revisiting worldwide ecosystem conservation policies in relation to insects and (ii) developing practical apparatus for insect larval growth for feeding livestock.
Please contact me if you have an interesting idea and I will be happy to discuss personalised projects
Outreach
My goal is to support people to realise their dreams. To do that, I coordinate several outreach projects in Brazil aimed to stimulate at-risk and/or low-income students to apply and succeed at the University.
Most of my outreach projects have been funded by the Brazillian Research Council (CNPq). In 2016, the outreach teams visited more than 10 low-income schools in the South of Brazil, engaging with more than 500 pre-university students. In 2019, we launched our first e-book Geometria Poética (Poetic Geometry) to help students learn geometrical concepts in a easy and unorthodox way.
If you want to make an impact in the world, join us. I am always willing to discuss new ideas for ways in which we can influence people.
Knowledge Exchange
Geometria Poetica ebook: www.geometriapoetica.com
Funding and Grants
2022 – 2025 BBSRC Responsive Mode. Dietary optimisation for male fertilisation success and healthy reproductive ageing. (Co-I) (£980,000) with Dr Stuart Wigby (University of Liverpool, UK)
2022 – 2023 Brazilian National Research Council (CAPES). (PI) (£8,000)
BBSRC International Partnership. Partner: Prof Maria Sunnerhagen (Linköping University, Sweden). (PI) (£55,000).
NERC Discipline-Hopping (Interdisciplinary grant). (PI) (£10,000)
Riemann Fellowship Award (Interdisciplinary grant). Differential Geometry applied to Nutrition. (Fellow) (£5,000)
NERC Research Experience Placement. Using topological and geometrical analysis to gain insights into how species respond to changing environments. £17,890
BBSRC Mitigation Fund. (PI) (£40,000)
Royal Society International Exchange. with Linköping University (Sweden). (PI). (£3,000)
Saltire Emerging Researcher Award. Interdisciplinary approach to study complex nutritional data: merging differential geometry, ecology, and nutrition. (PI). (£5,000)
2021 – 2022 Instruct-ERIC. Optimising expression and purification of an insect GPCR for future control of pests and disease vectors. (PI) (€5,000)
Royal Society Start-up Grant. More larvae, more waste, less food: unravelling the interaction between larval crowding and toxicity during development of flies (PI) (£20,000)
NERC Research Experience Placement. £17,890
2020 – 2021 Knowledge Exchange & Commercialization. (PI) (£5,000)
2018 – 2019 Macquarie University Strategic Funds (Internal). Does mum really know what’s best? Unravelling mother–offspring nutritional conflict in flies. (PI) (£1,000)
2017 – 2018 Sydney Research Excellence Initiative. University of Sydney (Internal). Linking nutrition with systemic and oral health. (Co-I) (£120,000)
2016 – 2020 Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd (HIA). Raising Qfly Sterile Insect Technique to world standard (Theme 2A) (Co-I) (£200,000)
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
MA1515 Maths for Scientists
EG1011 Maths for Engineering
BI3505 Behavioural Biology
BI2510 Comparative Physiology I
Non-course Teaching Responsibilities
Race Equality Spotlight Series
Tutoring and Mentoring UG and PG students
BI3010 Statistical Analysis of Biological Data (Guest Lecturer and Assessment on Data Storytelling)
- Publications
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Commensal microbiota modulates larval foraging behaviour, development rate and pupal production in Bactrocera tryoni
BioMed Central Microbiology, vol. 19, 286Contributions to Journals: ArticlesInteractions between ecological factors in the developmental environment modulate pupal and adult traits in a polyphagous fly
Ecology and Evolution, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 6342-6352Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qr54869
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13598/1/Nguyen_etal_ece3_VOR.pdf
Quantifying nutritional trade-offs across multidimensional performance landscapes
The American Naturalist, vol. 193, no. 6, pp. E168–E181Contributions to Journals: ArticlesForaging decisions as multi-armed bandit problems: Applying reinforcement learning algorithms to foraging data
Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 467, pp. 48-56Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.02.002
Larval foraging decisions in competitive heterogeneous environments accommodate diets that support egg-to-adult development in a polyphagous fly
Royal Society Open Science, vol. 6, no. 4, 190090Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSucrose and starch intake contribute to reduced alveolar bone height in a rodent model of naturally occurring periodontitis
PloS ONE, vol. 14, no. 3, 0212796Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe Extended Genotype: To What Extent? A Comment on Carthey et al.
Trends in Ecology & Evolution, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 186-187Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.12.010
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Crowded developmental environment promotes adult sex-specific nutrient consumption in a polyphagous fly
Frontiers in zoology, vol. 16, 4Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8476811
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13599/1/Morimoto_etal_FrontZool_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Nutrition and infectious disease
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809633-8.90722-2
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Sex peptide receptor-regulated polyandry modulates the balance of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection in Drosophila
Nature Communications, vol. 10, 283Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h5346
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13603/1/Morimoto_etal_NatComms_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus