 | Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D.
Foundation For Advanced Education In The Sciences | | Latency, Reactivation and Immunity in Chronic Parasitic Disease
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
Infection whether by viruses (e.g. herpes viruses), bacteria (e.g. Mycobacteria sp) or parasites (e.g. Leishmania sp), often results in the asymptomatic persistence of pathogens within the tissues of hosts. The long-term goal of our research program is to understand the principal mechanisms and consequences of such latent... (more)(The first year of this research was conducted at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.) |
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 | Michael D. Burkart, Ph.D.
University of California - San Diego | | Biosynthetic Inhibition of Small Molecule Virulence Factors from Mycobacteria
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
Most virulent organisms produce small molecules that are essential for causing disease, usually toxins or signaling molecules. The machinery that makes these molecules is a promising target for antibiotic development. The Buruli ulcer is a tropical skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans that causes painless... (more) |
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 | Eleftherios “Terry” Mylonakis, M.D., Ph.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital | | Use of the Caenorhabditis elegans model of fungal pathogenesis to identify virulence factors of the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
The significant numbers of serious fungal infections, the paucity of new antifungal agents, and the likelihood of the emergence of drug resistance in fungi, suggest a pressing need for new model systems to study the mechanisms of fungal virulence... (more) |
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 | Pejman Rohani, Ph.D.
University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. | | The Ecology and Evolution of Disease Interference
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
Infectious diseases remain an important public health issue, both through the emergence of new pathogens and the continued persistence and resurgence of older infections, several of which now boast multi-drug-resistant strains. The Global Burden of Disease project estimated that in the year 2000, more than 10 million deaths worldwide were due to... (more) |
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 | Michael Jeffrey Root,, M.D., Ph.D.
Thomas Jefferson University | | Targeting Viral Entry Using the 5-Helix Protein Design Strategy
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
Ebola virus (EbV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) are serious human pathogens of global importance. Readily spread EbV infection almost always leads to hemorrhagic fever, a devastating illness with mortality rates as high as 85%. RSV is one of the most common causes of severe... (more) |
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 | Anita Sil, M.D., Ph.D
University of California - San Francisco | | Molecular Analysis of Detoxification of Nitric Oxide in Histoplasma capsulatum
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
My laboratory studies the pathogen Histoplasma capsulatum, thought to be the most common cause of fungal respiratory infections in the world. H. capsulatum colonizes macrophages, which usually destroy invading microbes. Despite exposure to anti-microbial effectors in the host cell, H.... (more) |
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 | Keril J. Blight, Ph.D.
Washington University | | Characterization of the NS4B Protein in Hepatitis C Virus
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
With approximately 3% of the population worldwide infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and no protective vaccine available, this disease has emerged as a serious global health problem. The recent development of subgenomic HCV replicons capable of replicating efficiently in cell culture now facilitates studies on the poorly understood... (more) |
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 | Philip Ralph Dormitzer, M.D., Ph.D.
Children's Hospital, Boston | | Structure-based Approach to Rotavirus Vaccine Design and Cell Entry
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
Rotavirus is the single most important cause of severe, dehydrating childhood gastroenteritis. Worldwide, rotavirus causes approximately 6% of all human deaths under the age of 5 years. A live, oral vaccine against rotavirus (RotaShield) was released in the United States in 1998, but was withdrawn due to a temporal association of... (more) |
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 | Kent Hill, Ph.D.
University of California - Los Angeles | | Mechanism and Biology of Trypanosome cell motility: contribution to parasite development and disease pathogenesis
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
African trypanosomes and related protozoan parasites are the source of morbidity and mortality in several million people worldwide. Cell motility is important for interaction of these parasites with their mammalian and insect hosts. However, the molecular mechanism of cell motility in... (more) |
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 | Ali A. Sultan, M.D., Ph.D.
Harvard School of Public Health | | Molecular Mechanisms of Plasmodium Sporozoite Pathogenicity
2003 New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease
Malaria infection is initiated when Plasmodium sporozoites, which are injected by Anopheles mosquitoes, invade hepatocytes of the vertebrate host. The speed and selectivity of hepatocyte invasion indicate the involvement of specific parasite-encoded surface protein(s) and host molecule(s). In addition, Plasmodium... (more)(This project terminated early.) |
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