David Hughes is Assistant Professor at Penn State University (dual appointment to the Department of Entomology and the Department of Biology). His work has mostly focused on the behavior of social insects (wasps and ants) when infected by parasites. He has also collaborated extensively with Fred Thomas on the Hairworms system of cricket manipulation. He has published more than 32 papers in leading international journals including: Nature, TREE, Current Biology, American Naturalist, Biology Letters, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. In 2008 he edited a book for OUP with Patrizia D'Ettorre (P. D'Ettorre & D.P. Hughes (2008) Sociobiology of Communication. Oxford University Press).
Trained as experimental and theoretical ecologist, Jacques Brodeur is a full professor at the University of Montréal, Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, and holds the Canada Research Chair in Biocontrol. For the past 18 years, he has studied the biology and ecology of natural enemies used for biological control of arthropod pests. A long-term goal of his research is to identify the governing ecological principles and mechanisms of multispecies interactions within arthropod communities, and to apply these principles to develop reliable and predictive strategies to best take advantage of biological control agents. He has published a large number of papers on host-parasitoid relationships, including host manipulation.
Frédéric Thomas is Directeur de Recherche at CNRS with a well established expertise in the field of host-parasite interactions, and especially host manipulation. He is leading a team entitled "Parasitically modified organisms". He has published more than 140 articles in international peer reviewed journals (1995-present), including Nature, Evolution, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Ecology Letters, Ecology, American Naturalist, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Plos pathogen, Proteomics and also edited five books (two at Oxford University Press).