The Department has a distinguished tradition of malaria transmission research, especially as related to vaccine development. This area of research remains prominent with 6 faculty trying to prevent transmission of malaria from mosquito to human host by developing malaria vaccines or doing basic molecular cell biology studies of infection in the skin and liver. The Chair brings strength in malaria genomics and genetics as well as epidemiology. Research programs investigating the parasites that cause African trypanosomiasis, amoebiasis and fungal infections such as Pneumocystis carinii have been relatively recent additions. Four new faculty appointments will be made in 2006 to strengthen the research profile of the Department in vector biology, parasite genomics, epidemiology, molecular cellular parasitology and parasite immunology.

One of the exciting aspects of parasitology at NYU is the national and international network of collaborators who participate in joint research programs. Institutional collaborative links also exist between the infectious disease research community at NYU in genomics, bioinformatics, immunology, epidemiology and cell biology.

Research of the Faculty

	Karen Day, PhD, Chair: Malaria Transmission Dynamics and Diversity
Jane Carlton, PhD: Comparative Genomics of Eukaryotic Parasites	Allen Clarkson, PhD: Pneumocystis - Multiply Fast or Die	Dan Eichinger, PhD: Molecular Biology of Entamoeba histolytica
Ute Frevert, DVM, PhD: Communication Between Malaria Parasites and Liver Cells	Elizabeth Nardin, PhD: Mechanisms of Immunity to Malaria	Ruth Nussenzweig, MD, PhD: Development of Experimental Basis for Malaria Vaccine
Jayne Raper, PhD: African Trypanosome Lytic Factors - Novel Mediators of Human Innate Immunity	Ana Rodriguez, PhD: Plasmodium Liver Infection and Immune Response	Photini Sinnis, MD: Plasmodium Sporozoite Biology in the Mosquito and Vertebrate Host
Jerome Vanderberg, PhD: Parasite-Host Interactions in Invasion and Immunity		Recruiting in Anopheline Biology, Parasite Genomics and Bioinformatics - details here

Related Research in Other Departments

Victor Nussenzweig Pathology (experimental): Immunobiology of intracellular protozoan parasites

Gwo-Shu Mary Lee Pathology (experimental): Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology of the African Trypanosomes