Senior Scholar Awards in Global Infectious Disease 2004

John Carlson, Ph.D. Yale University	Rational Development of Novel Insect Repellents and Traps for the Control of Disease Vectors 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease One of the most effective means of controlling insect-borne diseases has been to control the insects that carry them. One simple, inexpensive, and environmentally benign means of insect control is the use of repellents and traps. Repellents are used in many countries against mosquitoes, and traps are used... (more)
Karen P. Day, Ph.D. New York University School of Medicine	Quorum Sensing and Malaria Parasites 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease Malaria is recognized as a major global health problem. Hundreds of millions of cases occur each year where humans are exposed to the bites of mosquitoes transmitting the deadly parasite. The risk of death upon infection is high for those with limited immunity. Children are particularly vulnerable, as are refugees relocated to malaria infested areas by war and... (more)
JoAnne L. Flynn, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh	Host-mediated Control of Tuberculosis: What are the Important Factors? 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease Persons infected with Myobacterium tuberculosis can develop primary disease or latent infection. Host factors responsible for the outcome of M. tuberculosis infection remain, in large part, unknown. In addition, the immune microenvironment of the granuloma is also a mystery. We propose to take advantage of our... (more)
Jorge Galan, D.V.M., Ph.D. Yale University School of Medicine	Molecular and Functional Bases of Campylobacter jejuni Pathogenesis 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of bacterial diarrhea worldwide. Although these bacteria were not recognized as human enteric pathogens until the 1970’s, they are now recognized as the most common bacterial cause of acute infectious diarrhea in humans in the U.S. and Europe. Although there is... (more)
Alexander D. Johnson, Ph.D. University of California - San Francisco	Prions, Epigenetics, and Virulence in a Fungal Pathogen 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease Fungal infections have increased dramatically in the past decade not only in developed countries—in large part due to advances in chemotherapy and organ transplantation—but also in the developing world, as a consequence of the progressive AIDS pandemic. Surprisingly, we know relatively little about how fungal infections are established, how... (more)
Beth Levine, M.D. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas	Autophagy as a Novel Mechanism of Innate Immunity against Intracellular Pathogens 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease When modern cells (eukaryotic cells) that are found in plant and animal kingdoms evolved 2-3 billion years ago, they developed an internal membrane system that is capable of internalizing and digesting food (called the lysosomal pathway). Viruses and bacteria have taken advantage of this membrane system to gain access... (more)
Ruslan Medzhitov, Ph.D. Yale University School of Medicine	Immunobiology of Co-infection 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease Our bodies are equipped with an immune system to help protect us from infectious pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses. There are many different types of pathogens that can infect the host and, accordingly, there are many different ways in which the immune system can handle these pathogens. Recognition of infection generally leads to the activation of specialized... (more)
Megan B. Murray, M.D. Harvard School of Public Health	Comparative Genomics and the Molecular Epidemiology of Tuberculosis 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease Tuberculosis remains one of the leading causes of death in the world and is rivaled only by HIV as the single leading cause of death from an infectious agent. Although it had been in decline in Europe and the United States for much of the 20th century, TB has remained widely prevalent through much of the developing world, with a... (more)
Daniel A. Portnoy, Ph.D. University of California - Berkeley	Production of Muramyl Dipeptides and Induction of Type I Interferon by Listeria monocytogenes and Mycobacterium tuberculosis 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease The global burden of disease caused by intracellular pathogens is one of the largest challenges facing the international biomedical community. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, for example, infects about one-third of the world’s population resulting in... (more)
Dyann Wirth, Ph.D. Harvard School of Public Health	Diversifying Selection in Plasmodium falciparum 2004 Senior Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease Malaria is truly a global health concern of great significance. Forty percent of the world’s total population is at risk for malaria today in over 90 countries. Even areas where malaria was thought to be eliminated, including the United States, are not immune: up to 1500 cases each year are reported to the Centers for Disease Control. ... (more)