Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Neglected tropical diseases affect over one billion people worldwide. While these diseases are linked to poverty in tropical regions, increased travel makes them a wider global concern. In particular, American trypanosomiasis disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi parasites is found in Latin America, but many cases are now reported in the United States and Canada. Infection by these parasites can damage the heart and the digestive system, leading to death. However, the parasite characteristics that determine disease severity are still poorly understood. This project uses modern large-scale DNA sequencing and protein expression studies to identify factors that vary between parasites that cause different forms of the disease. The importance of these factors in disease severity is then validated by knocking out or overexpressing them in the parasites and thereby identifying their role during infection. Understanding the processes that influence disease development will improve our basic knowledge of these parasites. In addition, there are no good drug treatments for American trypanosomiasis, and none approved for use in Canada. Identifying factors that are important for disease severity will lead to the discovery of new drug targets, which will guide and accelerate drug development efforts. Finally, doctors need to understand which patients will progress to severe disease to identify who requires treatment. The factors we discover will help them make this decision. Overall, this project will generate results that will have an impact on the lives of over 60 million people that are at risk of developing American trypanosomiasis and on the people currently infected with these parasites, including several thousand in Canada.