Luciano Moreira

For more than two decades, Luciano Moreira has played a defining role in the development and large-scale deployment of the World Mosquito Program’s Wolbachia method of breeding mosquitoes that can’t transmit deadly diseases like dengue —guiding it from scientific discovery to lasting public-health impact in Brazil, one of the countries most heavily burdened by mosquito-borne diseases.

After introducing the project in Brazil in 2012, Moreira has led its steady national expansion, building robust evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of this nature-based approach, while strengthening community partnerships and earning the public trust required to implement the idea on a large scale.

This sustained effort culminated last year in a major milestone: the launch of Wolbito do Brasil—the world’s largest biofactory dedicated to breeding Wolbachia mosquitoes. With an ambition to protect more than 140 million people over the next decade, Moreira is helping redefine what is possible in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases.

O’Neill is CEO of the World Mosquito Program