5^th Global Virtual
Symposium on Toxoplasmosis

Biography

Aoife Heaslip received her bachelor’s degree from University College Dublin and PhD degree from the University of Vermont under the mentorship of Dr. Gary Ward. Aoife then moved to Indiana University and worked as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Ke Hu. She then returned to Vermont to complete a second postdoc with Dr. David Warshaw, an expert in myosin biophysics. In 2017, Aoife started her own research group at the University of Connecticut. The focus of her lab is understanding cargo transport and actin organization in Toxoplasma gondii.

Biography

Prof. Lilach Sheiner the deputy head for Parasitology theme at the School of Infection and Immunity at University of Glasgow. She is leading a team focused on mitochondrial biology of apicomplexan, and on divergent cell biology of eukaryotes. Throughout her career she has been researching divergent cell biology using Toxoplasma as an apicomplexan model. Her PhD at the university of Geneva Switzerland was focused on intracellular trafficking of Toxoplasma membrane proteins, and her postdoc at the Center of Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, GA, USA, was focused on apicoplast protein import. In the past 10 years Lilach and her team have developed protocols for the study of mitochondrial biology in Toxoplasma which they have been using to study its unique biology and biogenesis.

Biography

Silvia J. Moreno, a professor in the cellular biology department and director for the NIH Training Grant in Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, is recognized for her studies on calcium signaling in parasitic protozoa.

Her work defined the link between calcium signaling and pathogenesis of infectious organisms. Her research focuses on Toxoplasma gondii, a pathogen that infects one-third of the world population. She and her team discovered mechanisms of calcium signaling in parasites and novel compartments that store calcium that are different from those present in mammalian cells. Her laboratory developed new genetic tools to study calcium that could be used for high-throughput assays to find new pharmacological agents for the potential treatment of parasitic diseases.

Based on another fundamental discovery from her lab, that Toxoplasma takes specific nutrients from its host, she proposed the development of therapeutics that combine host-encoded and parasite-encoded functions as a novel approach for chemotherapy.

Biography

Laura Knoll is a Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Associate Dean for Basic Research Training. She graduated from St. Olaf College with a BA in Chemistry and Biology, and Washington University in St. Louis with her thesis research in Dr. Jeffrey Gordon lab. She did her postdoctoral research with Dr. John Boothroyd at Stanford University where she used molecular genetic techniques to study the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. In 2001, she moved to UW-Madison where her lab has focused on Toxoplasma asexual and sexual development.

Biography

Rima McLeod, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FAAAS is Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases), Committees on Molecular Medicine and Immunology, & The College, Member and Steering Committee Center for Global Health, Center for Health & the Social Sciences, Director, Toxoplasmosis Center, Senior Fellow, Institute of Genomics, Genetics and Systems Biology, and Attending Physician Chicago Medicine Member at The University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637. Her early training was at The University of California in Berkeley and in San Francisco, The University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University and she has been a faculty member at The University of Chicago since 1979. She and her colleagues work to understand human toxoplasmosis, including host pathogen interaction, molecular pathogenesis, host response, and to develop means to prevent and definitively cure toxoplasmosis and its consequences based in an understanding of biology of the parasite and its human host.

Biography

Dr. Dominique Soldati-Favre is a full Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva and serves as the head of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine. She studied biochemistry and obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Zurich. Following a postdoctoral training at Stanford University, she held the position as group leader in Heidelberg and as Reader at Imperial College London. Dr. Soldati-Favre is an EMBO member and has been honored with the Alice and CC Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology for her research focused on the biology of apicomplexan parasites. Her team is deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying gliding motility and host cell invasion. More recently, they have initiated studies on the metabolic needs and capabilities of the Apicomplexa

Biography

Mathieu Gissot has been exploring through molecular approaches the mechanisms controlling the regulation of gene expression in apicomplexan parasites. During his PhD, he explored how transcription factors played a role in regulation the erythrocytic cycle of P. falciparum. As a post-doc in Kami Kim’s lab, he worked on gene regulation in both Plasmodium and T. gondii. He is currently a research director at CNRS working at the Pasteur Institute in Lille, and his research focuses on deciphering the molecular pathways controlling proliferation and differentiation of the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. He has a broad background in molecular biology and genetics, with specific training and expertise in molecular parasitology. As a PI, he explored many aspects of gene regulation by deciphering the molecular mechanisms regulating the T. gondii cell cycle. In particular, he directed the work that led to the discovery of a master regulator of gene expression during a critical step of the cell cycle of this parasite.

Biography

Nishith Gupta is a Professor and Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, India. He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Leipzig, Germany, and has held research positions in the USA and Germany. An internationally recognized parasitologist, Prof. Gupta has received several prestigious awards, including the Carl-Asmund Rudolphi Medal, Robert Koch Foundation Young Scientist Award, and Heisenberg Fellowship. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of intracellular parasitism, host-pathogen interactions, and infection biology. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles and pioneered the application of optogenetics in parasitology research.

Biography

Rafael M. Mariante, PhD, is a Titular Researcher at the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/Fiocruz), Deputy Head and Group Leader at the Laboratory of Structural Biology. He is a permanent faculty member of the Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology (IOC/Fiocruz) and serves on the board of the Brazilian Toxoplasmosis Research Network (Rede Toxo). His research focuses on host-parasite interactions and neutrophil biology in Toxoplasma gondii infection, including the role of neutrophils and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in the infection of biological barriers, such as the placental barrier.

Biography

Cyrille Botté is a CNRS Research Director who leads the CNRS-INSERM-Université Grenoble Alpes "Apicolipid" research team at the Institut for Advanced Biosciences in Grenoble (Twitter: @ApicoLipid). His team focuses on understanding how Apicomplexan parasites (intracellular human pathogens responsible for major human diseases including malaria and toxoplasmosis) acquire lipids and nutrient essential for their propagation, survival, and pathogenesis within their human host. His team developed a strong expertise in parasite lipid analysis, lipidomic and fluxomic analysis, and set up major facilities and equipment in their premises, such as a P3* cell culture facility (HCB #3573), and a fully independent lipidomic-fluxomic platform (both part of a larger core facilities). They have thus extended a larger metabolomic-lipidomic platform dedicated to health, which activity spans to infections, cancer, metabolic signature, cohorts… Current interests of the team are focusing hot-parasite metabolic interaction, lipid trafficking, and sensing/adaptation of pathogens to host nutritional environment.

Biography

Rui Zhang, PhD is an Associate Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, USA. His research focuses on the structural biology of microtubules and cilia, utilizing cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to investigate cytoskeletal organization and function. His work has provided important insights into cell biology and diseases associated with cytoskeletal defects.

Biography

Elena Suvorova, PhD is a researcher specializing in the cell biology and molecular mechanisms of Toxoplasma gondii. Her research focuses on the parasite's cytoskeleton, cell division, and host–parasite interactions, with the goal of understanding the mechanisms that drive parasite replication and pathogenesis. Dr. Suvorova's work contributes to identifying novel therapeutic targets for combating toxoplasmosis and other apicomplexan parasitic diseases.

Biography

Diego Huet did his Ph.D. at the Pasteur Institute in Paris under the guidance of Philippe Bastin, where he worked with the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. For his postdoctoral work, Diego joined the laboratory of Sebastian Lourido at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA. As a postdoc, Diego contributed to the development of genome-wide CRISPR screens in Toxoplasma gondii. Now as an assistant professor in the departments of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences and Cellular Biology at the University of Georgia, the Huet laboratory uses T. gondii to understand the divergent aspects of the organellar biology in apicomplexans.

Biography

Dr. Joachim Kloehn is an Associate Professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. His research focuses on the metabolism of Toxoplasma gondii, with an emphasis on parasite metabolism and apicoplast biology. Through an independently funded project, he identified conditions that bypass the requirement for the apicoplast in T. gondii, paving the way for the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and compounds against chronic toxoplasmosis.

Biography

Kami Kim is a physician-scientist who works on pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis and other infectious diseases. Her laboratory uses “omics” and computational approaches to understand toxoplasmosis. Most recently her team has developed human cardiomyocyte and neuronal iPSC models of bradyzoite induction.

Biography

Dr. Zhicheng Dou is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University, USA. His research focuses on the molecular and cellular biology of the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, with an emphasis on nutrient acquisition, host–pathogen interactions, and the identification of novel therapeutic targets for toxoplasmosis. His laboratory combines molecular genetics, cell biology, and biochemical approaches to advance the understanding of parasite biology and infectious diseases.

Biography

Dr. Le Roch is a Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology at the University of California, Riverside, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease and Vector Research. With over 25 years of experience in drug discovery and functional genomics, her research focuses on apicomplexan parasites, including Plasmodium, Toxoplasma gondii, and Babesia. Her laboratory integrates genomics, molecular biology, and systems biology to uncover mechanisms of parasite development, transmission, and immune evasion, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets. Dr. Le Roch has authored more than 145 publications, 16 book chapters, and holds 3 patents.

Biography

Dr. Sébastien Besteiro is an INSERM Research Director at the University of Montpellier, France, and co-leads the Cell Biology of Apicomplexan Parasites team at the Laboratory of Pathogens and Host Immunity (LPHI). His research focuses on the molecular and cellular biology of apicomplexan parasites, particularly Toxoplasma gondii, with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets against parasitic diseases. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to parasite biology, host–pathogen interactions, and drug discovery.

Biography

Dr. Maritza Jaramillo is a Professor of Immunology and Microbiology working in host-parasite interactions at Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) - Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie (Quebec, Canada). One of the main lines of research in her laboratory focuses on investigating the transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms involved in the dysregulation of host gene expression during Toxoplasma gondii infection in macrophages and placental cells. Dr. Jaramillo’s long-term goal is to advance health-related knowledge on the molecular basis of the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis and to uncover novel targets and regulators of host mRNA metabolism with potential antiparasitic applications.