Molecular Parasitology

Current research

• Developing and field testing a combination of interventions (including new measures such as vaccination and health education) that will lead to the sustainable control and eventual elimination of schistosomiasis in China
• Determining the most cost-effective intervention strategies to achieve the Chinese Government’s goal of eliminating schistosomiasis by 2020. This project involves using additional diagnostic techniques to determine the true extent of infection rates in 16 Chinese villages, evaluating the effectiveness of current control measures, and modelling predicted future transmission rates
• Extensive human schistosome field studies in Hunan Province (Dongting Lake region), Jiangxi Province (Poyang Lake) and other provinces in China
• Characterising nuclear and mitochondrial genomes and investigating molecular variation both in the genomes and in key molecules that may be the targets of new anti-schistosome and anti-Echinococcus vaccines
• Dissecting the molecular and immunological mechanisms involved in human disease caused by schistosomes and Echinococcus
• Identifying novel drugs and vaccine targets for schistosomiasi
• Development of new diagnosis methods for hydatid diseas
• Development of a vaccine against Echinococcus for use in dog hosts
• Schistosomiasis

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge support from the following organisations and funding bodies:

• National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia.
• UBS Optimus Foundation, Switzerland.
• Queensland-US Vaccine Technology Alliance.

External Collaborators

• Feng Zheng and Professor Guo Jiagang, WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, PR China.
• Dr Charles Bix Shoemaker, AgResearch Ltd, Wallaceville Animal Research Centre, Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
• Professor Honggen Chen, Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China.
• Professor Alain Dessein, INSERM U399, Faculte de Medecine, Marseille, France.
• Dr Weiqing Pan, Department of Etiologic Biology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, PR China.
• Professor Paul Brindley, Dept Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
• Professor Marcel Tanner, Director, Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
• Professor Philip Craig, Biology Dept, Salford University, Salford, United Kingdom.
• Dr Thanh Hoa Le, Hanoi Institute of Biotechnology, Hanoi, Vietnam.
• Dr David Blair, Biology Dept, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
• Professor Remi Olveda, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Manila, Philippines.
• IDEU/SPH/UQ.