Focus
Diabetes and metabolic diseases
Inflammation and infection diseases
Parasitology
Group leader
My research focuses on understanding the biology and biochemistry of parasitic worms, and in particular the relationship between parasites and their hosts.
Specifically, I am interested in the molecules that parasites release to manipulate host immune responses to their advantage.
While many aspects of this research are basic, the ultimate goal is the discovery of a strategy(s) by which we can protect animals and humans from parasitic infections.
However, an additional application for this research is to exploit the mechanisms of immune modulation used by the worms for the development of new treatments for human disease caused by chronic inflammation (such as multiple sclerosis, type 2 diabetes, psoriasis and asthma).