Vector-Free: Safe Repellents for People and the Future of Agriculture

Please join us for a presentation by Davide Aguilar, Co-Founder and CEO of VectorFree and and Craig Montell, PhD, Co-Founder and Chair of the Board. They will discuss how mosquitoes and ticks spread diseases that threaten nearly a billion people and K*ll roughly 800,000 every year, putting families, outdoor workers, and entire communities at risk. VectorFree is tackling this problem with IR007, a new repellent that provides more than twelve hours of protection from both mosquitoes and ticks. The formula uses only safe, natural, biodegradable ingredients, making it gentle on people and the environment.

Their mission is to save lives by making effective and affordable protection widely accessible, especially in communities that need it the most. IR007 is just the first step. VectorFree’s long-term vision is to bring the same focus on safety, efficacy, and sustainability to agricultural pest control. They aim to reduce the burden of vector-borne disease and support healthier lives and environments worldwide.

David Aguilar is the Co-Founder and CEO of VectorFree, Inc., where he is leading the development of IR007, a safe and sustainable mosquito repellent that provides protection for over 12 hours and is designed to replace DEET. He is completing his Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at UC Santa Barbara, where his research focuses on insect sensory biology, formulation science, and chemical synthesis. Originally from Colombia, David has seen firsthand how vector-borne diseases can disrupt daily life, harm public health, and limit economic opportunity. With more than six years of experience, multiple patents, and a commitment to sustainable innovation, David’s mission is to develop solutions that protect health, save lives, and support the communities most affected by these diseases. His work bridges advanced science with real-world application, moving IR007 from the lab to the global market. By combining affordability, safety, and effectiveness, he aims to make long-lasting protection available to everyone, everywhere.

Craig Montell received his BA in Bacteriology from UC Berkeley, his PhD in Microbiology from UCLA, and performed his postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley. After 25 years on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he moved to UC Santa Barbara in 2013 where, he is a Distinguished Professor and holds the Duggan Chair. Dr. Montell is an elected fellow of the AAAS and holds honorary doctorate degrees from KU Leuven and the Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Montell’s research has uncovered fundamental molecular mechanisms through which animals sense the world through sight, sound, taste, smell and temperature detection. He began this interest in the 1980s by focusing on the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. During the last nine years, Dr. Montell has turned his attention to characterizing the sensory mechanisms that the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, uses to home in on people, and spread the viruses that cause dengue and other diseases that afflict hundreds of millions of people each year. Dr. Montell has published 200 articles in the top scientific journals, including Science, Nature and Cell. In addition, his discoveries have been covered widely in the popular press including the New York Times, NPR, CBS News, the Economist, BBC World News and many other sources.

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