INSTITUTE OF PARASITOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT 2008 - 2009 Prepared by Professor Timothy G. Geary Director August 2009 Infective larvae of the parasite Haemonchus contortus in a water droplet in grass Institute of Parasitology 2008-2009 Cover The picture represents infective larvae of the parasite Haemonchus contortus in a water droplet in pasture. Sheep and goats infected with Haemonchus contortus parasitic worms become anemic and often die. Adult female worms lay eggs in the host’s digestive tract. The eggs are excreted in the host’s feces, where they develop into larvae that move into the surrounding environment. The larvae can then be ingested by other small ruminant grazing hosts, in which they turn into adults, mate and continue the life cycle. Credit: The photo was taken from: Prichard, R.K. and Geary, T.G. Drug Discovery - Fresh hope to can the worms. Nature, vol. 452, pp. 157-158, March 2008. 2 Institute of Parasitology 2008-2009 I – Mission & Objectives • To train students and highly qualified personnel at an advanced level in all life science disciplines relevant to the host-parasite relationship • To advance knowledge in the life science disciplines relevant to the host-parasite relationship • To undertake basic research aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality caused by parasite infections in animals and humans • To communicate our findings to the scientific community and the general public • To contribute our expertise to the broader mission of McGill University through our teaching, research and service in the life sciences in the Faculties of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Medicine, and Science, particularly in relation to Biotechnology and the Environment II – Highlights of Past Year’s Activities ► The Centre for Host-Parasite Interactions, hosted by the Institute of Parasitology, received news in April 2009 that its application for renewal had been approved. The Centre now has 29 members at academic institutions across the Province, and plans to continue expanding into the arena of international scientific collaborations. ► Prof. Timothy G. Geary completed his second full year as Director of the Institute of Parasitology, and continues to serve. This is a five-year appointment effective 1 April 2007. Dr. Geary also continues as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Parasite Biotechnology. ►With permission from the Provost, a recruitment effort was launched to identify a suitable replacement for the vice-Spithill senior position and Tier 1 CRC Chair. The Institute was delighted to be able to attract and hire an excellent candidate, Dr. John Dalton, Director of the Sydney Institute of Technology in Australia. Dr. Dalton started his career at McGill on 1 May 2009. It is anticipated that Dr. Dalton will be approved for the CRC Chair, with attached CFI. Although we miss our friend Terry Spithill, we are very pleased to welcome Dr. Dalton to our group. ►Dr. Petra Rohrbach, from Heidelberg University in Germany, joined the Institute as an Assistant Professor in November of 2008, and has applied for her first NSERC grant. Her research interests are in the area of pathogenesis as regards the host-parasite relationship in malaria and live cell imaging. ►Prof. Marilyn Scott continues to serve as the Director of the McGill School of the Environment. This is a 5-year administrative appointment, which began on 1 June 2008. Dr. Scott is also academically active in nutritional research in Central America, 3 Institute of Parasitology 2008-2009 particularly to ascertain how malnutrition affects the parasite burden in schoolchildren. Her doctoral students are currently conducting field studies in Panama, Guatemala and Trinidad. ►Prof. Prichard served as the Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee for the 2009 World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology Biennial Conference, to be held in Calgary, AB, in August 2009. Roger Prichard continues as a James McGill Chair (2003-2010). ► Prof. Roger Prichard continues his work on a vaccine for African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), a serious parasitic disease that is endemic in many parts of Africa. This research is funded by a Gates Foundation grant. ► Prof. Roger Prichard continued to serve Dean Madramootoo as Chair of the Faculty Planning Committee for the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. This is a 3-year appointment. ► Prof. Georges resigned as Director of the Institute’s Biotechnology Program. Dr. Geary is acting as temporary Director until Dr. Dalton has been “groomed” to assume this responsibility. The Biotechnology program continues to receive more applications than there are available spaces in the program. Expansion in this area is hampered by lack of lab space. ► Assistant Professor Reza Salavati continues to offer a Structural Bioinformatics course on the Macdonald Campus. The course was developed by Dr. Salavati in 2007, is well received by the students, and has been accepted by the McGill Centre for Bioinformatics as an elective for the Bioinformatics option across the University. ► Prof. Geary’s Functional Genomics course, launched in September 2007, continues to be popular with Mac students. Macdonald Campus students now have the opportunity to study functional genomics without going downtown. The course is well received and enjoys a selective popularity. ►In 2008, Prof. Geary received a Gates Grand Challenges Exploration grant, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His project, Drug Discovery in Africa, aims to bring together international expertise with collaborators in North American and African institutions. Natural products/local plants from Africa will be tested for their anti- parasite properties (ability to expel parasitic worms from the body) in an attempt to establish African institutions as the leaders in this program, so that the products developed from this sustainable project will be produced in Africa and available at low cost to Africans. ► Prof. Geary gave the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus lecture at Notre Dame University on drug discovery in Africa. ► Professor Geary developed and delivered a course on Water-borne Health Hazards as part of the Water Resource Engineering program; this illustrates the continuing 4 Institute of Parasitology 2008-2009 commitment of the Institute of Parasitology to other Macdonald programs, such as the Brace Water Institute. ►In September 2008, the number of non-thesis Biotechnology students remained similar to the previous year’s enrolment. Since the launch in 2005 of the M.Sc. (Applied) degree in Biotechnology, demand for this program has been strong and continues to grow. There is a waiting list for the M.Sc.(A) Biotech program. ► Our recent retirees continue to render valuable service to the Institute. Dr. Jim Smith produced the Summer 2009 edition of the Friends of Parasitology Newsletter. Dr. Gaétan Faubert acts as a part-time lecturer in the Immunology course offered on the Macdonald Campus and coordinated by Prof. Florence Dzierszinski. ►Prof. Robin Beech continues to serve as the Graduate Program Director, and Prof. Paula Ribeiro serves as Chair of the Institute’s Scholarships Committee. ► The 8th Annual FQRNT Molecular Parasitology Symposium was held from June 12- 13, 2008, at Complexe des sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), hosted by Prof. Tatiana Scorza, Département de sciences biologiques at UQAM. Invited international speakers were: Dr. Richard Bucala, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University, and Dr. Ricardo Gazzinelli of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Brazil. Attendance and participation were excellent demonstrating the depth and vibrancy of the Centre. ►The Institute of Parasitology completed its sixth and final year as the Leader for the FQRNT Centre for Host-Parasite Interactions. Professor Armando Jardim serves as director and spearheaded the writing of a successful application for renewal in this highly competitive funding arena. Ten Centres across the Province were funded; four were at McGill. Of the McGill four, our Centre for Host-parasite Interactions and the Nano Centre were the only ones to get funding for six years. ► Dr. Manami Nishi continued as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Dzierszinski’s group. She hails from Japan, and won a prestigious PBEEE (Programme de bourses d’excellence pour étudiants étrangers) funding award from the Quebec government. She conducts novel research studying the identification and purification of cyst wall proteins in Toxoplasma gondii, using proteomic approaches. ► Dr. Rodrigo Miranda from Brazil continued as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Prichard’s laboratory. He held a postdoctoral international fellowship from the Government of Canada. Dr. Miranda investigated the mechanisms of drug resistance in parasitic nematodes, and returned to Brazil on July 18, 2009, to take up a position as an Assistant Professor at a Brazilian University. ► Dr. Catherine Bourguinat, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Prichard’s lab, recovered from the malaria which she had contracted in Spring 2008 during her field studies in Cameroon. Dr. Bourguinat is conducting research to discover a possible genetic marker to follow potential ivermectin resistance in Onchocerca volvulus. 5 Institute of Parasitology 2008-2009 ► Dr. Terry Spithill, former Director of the Institute of Parasitology and currently Professor and Research Chair in Veterinary Parasitology at Charles Sturt University in Australia, was appointed as an Adjunct Professor. He works closely with Dr. Geary and others in terms of research collaboration. ► Dr. David