Professor Dave Chadee has died

By Akilah Stewart
June 22, 2016

Professor Dave Chadee and postgraduate student Akilah Stewart at the closing ceremony of the 23rd Annual Caribbean Water and Waste Water Conference (CWWA), Bahamas, October, 2014
Professor Dave Chadee and postgraduate student Akilah Stewart at the closing ceremony of the 23rd Annual Caribbean Water and Waste Water Conference (CWWA), Bahamas, October, 2014

Known by various titles, “The Mosquito Man” amongst others, Professor Dave Chadee, 62, has died. He succumbed to a massive heart attack yesterday, June 21st, at around 4:30 p.m.

Professor Chadee came from Tableland Village and considered himself a true “south man”. He recently established his own brand of chocolate—Orlando Craft Chocolate—from his hobby cocoa estate located there. Chadee had always had a keen interest in academics and was a national scholarship winner in Literature from Naparima College, but his greatest interest was in science. He attained his B.Sc in Dalhousie University, Canada in 1977, his MPhil in Zoology at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus in 1984 and a PhD in Entomology from University of Dundee in 1987. He would continue on to attain other academic qualifications and scholarships such as the Wellcome Trust Scholar, Gorgas Memorial Institute Fellow, and numerous grants including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Before his current position at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, he worked at the Insect Vector Control Division from 1979 to 1997 and he was the Director of the Trinidad Public Health Laboratory (now CARPHA). He was also the chairman of the Scientific Review Committee of the South-West Regional Health Authority Clinical Governance Committee (of the Ministry of Health).

His passion for research always centred around Health, Epidemiology and Climate Change for which he was internationally recognised, especially for his work with the dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses. He has published some two-hundred and fifty papers and book chapters in international peer review journals including publications for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has also been a part of expert panels for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington.

His research has resulted in him receiving many awards. Most recently, on Wednesday 8th June, 2016, at the UWI-NGC Research Awards Ceremony he received the Most Outstanding Researcher award; he was the recipient on three consecutive occasions. At that event, he was also recognized for the Most Outstanding International Research Project on the St. Augustine Campus which occurred in collaboration with peers from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Aside from various teaching positions locally and internationally, he was always interested in and eager to answer questions about his immediate environment. His research in the last three years based in the Parasitology Laboratory in UWI involved numerous local and regional projects such as the “The provision of baseline biological data for the Management of the Aripo Savannas Environmentally Sensitive Area” Green Fund funded project; the Global Local Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Scenarios (GoLoCarSce) European Union – Africa, Caribbean, Pacific group of States (EU-ACP) funded project; and the Sustainable Water Resources Management in Small Island States of the Caribbean (Water_aCCSIS), International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada funded project.

Professor Chadee will also be remembered for his mentorship of various postgraduate and undergraduate students both in Trinidad and abroad, especially through his brainchild pet event, the Annual Department of Life Sciences Research Symposium, which had occurred successfully for the sixth time this year in collaboration with other departments in the Faculty of Science and Technology, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad.

He is survived by his wife of close to thirty years, Joan Sutherland, his nephews Brian and Barry Samlalsingh, both of whom he was very close, and his sister Jasmine Chadee.

Professor Dave Duman Chadee was the academic supervisor for my MPhil in Environmental Biology, DLS St. Augustine Campus, UWI.

8 thoughts on “Professor Dave Chadee has died”

  1. Prof. Chadee was a stalwart in his field of research and will always be remembered not just for his many accolades but also for his humble, friendly and approachable personality. A colossal contributor to scientific research in the Caribbean and a gentle soul…..may his soul rest in peace..

    1. The thing I admired most about him is that despite his huge success both locally and internationally – he never forgot … and remained outspoken about his roots in Tableland … Such a monumental loss to not haut T&T but to the world and academia …

  2. A resume always has achievements not just where your time was spent. Perhaps he was putting out the garbage or wiping down the counters or even cleaning the toilets. Trinidad needs to change and focus more on achievements. Brian Lara achieved. His records are still there for us to be proud of. Did Panday or Kamla achieved? Hell no! Their hands were always in the cookie jar. Did manning achieved? Hell no! Yet he is proud that he was the longest serving Parliamentarian. But some would say he was a waste of time, others that he was Eric Williams blue eyed boy. So Intricate what did this Chadee man achieve? What God has given us much will be expected as the Holy book says. Perhaps this is why his lived was shortened. Who knows? Maybe someone can tell me what he achieved.

  3. I have met Dave many times during the past 5-6 years at the meetings of “Mosquito Men” organised by the IAEA. He was here in Sri Lanka couple of years ago with his wife. I found him a very knowledgeable person and his contributions at the ‘mosquito meetings’ had been immensely useful particularly for young scientists from developing countries. He was always nice and friendly. In a recent mail to me he requested some data on dengue situation in Sri Lanka which I sent to him by return mail.We were supposed meet in Tapachula, Mexico during the first week of July 2016. We lost a good friend.

  4. Professor Chadee cremated
    PROFESSOR Dave Chadee, whose extensive work in the field of Epidemiology with emphasis on mosquito borne diseases which earned him the nickname of “mosquito man”, was however remembered as a man to whom family was of more importance than work. Chadee, 62, succumbed to a massive heart attack on Tuesday.

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