Dr. Richard C. Elliott joined Boise State in 2016 as an Assistant Research Professor in the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering. Trained as a physicist he has broad expertise in computational modeling, particularly in statistical field theories for chain molecules, having worked in lipid biophysics and polymer theory. Dr. Elliott later became interested in vector-based disease and theories of transmission through a community of friends working in nonprofit agencies in sub-Saharan Africa. His goal is to help eliminate malaria, a global health problem affecting millions worldwide despite being a simply and inexpensively cured infection. Dr. Elliot’s work fills a research gap in epidemiological modeling by offering insights on vector-based disease transmission that use physical mechanisms and methods. Identifying dynamical pathways in the transmission system from mosquito to host may illuminate weaknesses that practitioners could exploit for superior disease control. Such efforts will (hopefully) lead to more effective control mechanisms and policy, optimize available resources, and potentially minimize chemical exposure.