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Focus on Faculty: Courtney Murdock

Courtney Murdock, an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Odum School of Ecology and CTEGD, studies the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases to inform predictions about disease patterns and interventions to disrupt transmission. Where did you earn degrees and... Read more →

Researchers receive $2M NIH instrumentation grant

by Alan Flurry The National Institutes of Health has awarded University of Georgia researchers $1.956 million for a high-resolution mass spectrometer that will enhance capabilities for scientists in many fields across campus. The award by the NIH High End Instrumentation program, which provides grants in the range... Read more →

New method patented to provide increased vaccine efficacy

by Donna Huber Vaccines can be an efficient and cost-effective method of preventing and treating pathogen-induced illnesses. As new pathogens appear and old pathogens re-emerge, improved vaccines are needed. For one emerging global disease, Chagas Disease, effective vaccine development has long been elusive. Now, Rick... Read more →

Grad school ready

by Camie Williams   PREP@UGA Scholars program trains next generation of life sciences researchers. As an undergraduate student in Maryland, Ian Liyayi planned to major in nursing but got lost on the campus tour and found himself in the biochemistry department. He liked that even better.  When... Read more →

Data boost: Using big data to fight disease

From leisure to health, digital databases can streamline nearly every facet of modern life. Remember when making travel plans to a single destination took hours? Now booking flights, hotels and rental cars is just a few clicks—and a credit card—away thanks to travel sites like... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Stephen Vella

Stephen Vella is a Ph.D. trainee in Silvia Moreno's laboratory. He is originally from Indiana where he received his B.S. in microbiology at Indiana University. In his first year at UGA, he was awarded an Excellence in Graduate Recruitment Award and a Provost’s Scholars of Excellence Award Fellowship. He has also been awarded an Outstanding Poster Presentation at the Molecular Parasitology Meeting in 2016. And in 2017, he was awarded a T32 fellowship from CTEGD. Read more →

Faculty search underway for Assistant Professor

The Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy and the Center for Tropical & Emerging Global Diseases at the University of Georgia invites applications for a full-time tenure track position at the level of Assistant Professor. We seek an individual who... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Josh Butler

New T32 trainee Josh Butler is a third year Ph.D. student in Belen Cassera‘s laboratory. He is from Front Royal, Virginia and completed his B.S. in chemistry at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Butler decided to pursue his graduate degree at the University of... Read more →

CTEGD opens lab doors to undergraduates at area schools

by Donna Huber When UGA alumna Dr. Sharon Keller accepted the position of Assistant Professor at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the research project she started in graduate school. Since GGC is not a research-intensive institution, Keller approached her... Read more →

Amazing Students: Trisha Dalapati

Trisha Dalapati has immersed herself in everything UGA offers, from volunteering to studying abroad to conducting lab research. The future physician is committed to using this knowledge to eventually deliver care to patients in an empathetic way. Hometown: Roswell, Georgia High school: Centennial High School... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Ciro Cordeiro

  Dr. Ciro D. Cordeiro recently completed his Ph.D. training in Roberto Docampo‘s laboratory. I was born in Brazil and grew up in a small city in the heart of the country, a place of great natural beauty dominated by savannas and agriculture. I have... Read more →

Trainee Adds New Tool to the Trypanosome Toolbox

When Ph.D. trainee Justin Wiedeman started investigating the role of protein kinase TbCK1.2, an enzyme found near the flagellum of Trypanosoma brucei, he quickly ran into a problem common to parasitologists. He needed a better tool for visualizing the membranes of this parasite. Since none... Read more →

UGA Flow Day 2018

The faculty and staff of the University of Georgia Cytometry Shared Resource Laboratories invite you to a day of flow cytometry education on June 26 at Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences. Anyone currently using the technology of flow cytometry or planning... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Anat Florentin

Anat Florentin, a post-doctoral associate in Vasant Muralidharan‘s laboratory, is originally from Israel. She received her BSc degree from Tel-Aviv University and MSc from the Weizmann Institute of Science. She obtained her Ph.D. also from the Weizmann Institute where she studied programmed cell death mechanisms... Read more →

Silvia Moreno named Distinguished Research Professor

Silvia J. Moreno, a professor in the cellular biology department and director for the NIH Training Grant in Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, is recognized for her studies on calcium signaling in parasitic protozoa. Her work defined the link between calcium signaling and pathogenesis of infectious... Read more →

Anat Florentin receives 2018 Postdoctoral Research Award

Anat Florentin, a postdoctoral researcher in Vasant Muralidharan‘s laboratory at the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, studies molecular mechanisms that drive life stages of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of parasite species that infect humans with malaria. During her exceptionally productive years at UGA, she has advanced... Read more →

CTEGD Undergraduates Present at CURO Symposium

A number of undergraduates who have conducted research in CTEGD laboratories will be presenting their projects at the University of Georgia’s CURO Symposium on Monday, April 9 and Tuesday, April 10 at the Classic Center. Oral Session 1 – Monday, April 9 11:15 – 12:05... Read more →

CTEGD Newsletter: Fall 2017 – Winter 2018

It is spring in Athens and that is always an exciting time for the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases! We always look forward to our annual signature event, the Molecular Parasitology & Vector Biology Symposium. This year will mark the 28th edition of the meeting that brings together students, staff, postdocs, and research... Read more →

Honors student named 2018 Goldwater Scholar

Trisha Dalapati, an undergraduate studying in Julie Moore’s laboratory, is among 211 students from across the nation to be recognized as Barry Goldwater Scholars, earning the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. Georgia institutions had... Read more →

Study reveals key cause of treatment failure in Chagas disease

Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that dormancy of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi prevents effective drug treatment for Chagas disease, which kills more than 50,000 people each year in Central and South America and is a growing threat in the United States and Europe.... Read more →

UGA researchers battle neglected diseases around the globe

by Leigh Beeson A UGA center takes on a public health problem that includes more than a dozen diseases of poverty. Lymphatic filariasis. Schistosomiasis. Cryptosporidiosis. They’re some of the world’s most widespread parasitic diseases, but many people have never heard of them. Those who live in... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Kerri Miazowicz

Kerri Miazowicz is a 3rd year Ph.D. trainee in Courtney Murdock‘s laboratory. She grew up in southern Michigan where she received a B.S. in microbiology from Michigan State University in 2012. After graduation, she spent more than two years as a Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow at the Rocky... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Beatrice Colon

Beatrice Colon, an Illinois native, is a Ph.D. trainee in Dennis Kyle’s laboratory. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Science degree from the University of South Florida (USF). She began her Ph.D. at... Read more →

UGA receives life sciences industry awards from Georgia Bio

By Allyson Mann The University of Georgia was well represented at the Georgia Bio Awards, with five awards recognizing programs either at or affiliated with the university. The awards were presented by Georgia Bio, the association for Georgia’s life sciences industry, at its 2018 annual... Read more →

Visiting Scholar: Elvis Ofori Ameyaw

  Elvis Ofori Ameyaw is a Fulbright Scholar visiting M. Belen Cassera‘s laboratory in the department of molecular biology and biochemistry. He is a senior lecturer, Head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and the Vice-Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences in the College of... Read more →

UGA Researcher Seeks to Unlock Secrets of Malaria Parasite

Vasant Muralidharan and his research team at the University of Georgia’s Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases are making great strides in understanding how the malaria parasite hijacks red blood cells to cause disease but many of the parasite’s strategies remain elusive.  A new... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Karla Márquez Nogueras

NIH T32 Trainee Karla M. Márquez Nogueras is in her 4th year of graduate training in Silvia Moreno‘s laboratory. Before entering the Ph.D. program at UGA, she taught for a semester at Turabo University in Puerto Rico, teaching undergraduate courses like Introduction to Microbiology and Human... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Molly Bunkofse

NIH T32 trainee Molly Bunkofse, a Ph.D. student in Rick Tarleton‘s laboratory, is originally from Illinois and I obtained my BA in Biology from a small, liberal arts college called Augustana, which is located in Rock Island, IL. Molly’s research focus Molly’s project focuses on... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Ruby Harrison

NIH T32 trainee Ruby Harrison is a co-advised by Drs. Michael Strand and Mark Brown in the UGA Department of Entomology. She received a Bachelor’s of Science in Entomology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012 and lived in Madison an additional two years working with mosquitoes as a... Read more →

Patrick Lammie Awarded Donald Mackay Medal

Patrick Lammie, CTEGD member and adjunct faculty in the Department of Cellular Biology, was awarded the Donald Mackay Medal during the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s (ASTMH) annual meeting in Baltimore, MD. The Donald Mackay Medal recognizes outstanding work in tropical health, especially... Read more →

CTEGD at ASTMH Annual Meeting

Many of CTEGD researchers and collaborators will be at the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s Annual meeting in Baltimore, MD next week. Below is a list of presentations where you can hear about the work we are doing. November 5 Session Parasitology (ACMCIP)... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Msano Mandalasi

Msano Mandalasi, a post-doctoral trainee in Chris West‘s laboratory, is originally from Malawi, (located in southeastern Africa) and obtained her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Malawi. After graduation, she worked briefly for the University of Malawi and then came to the US to obtain... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Evgeniy Potapenko

Evgeniy Potapenko, a post-doctoral trainee in Roberto Docampo‘s laboratory, is from Kyiv, Ukraine. He obtained his MD from Bogomolets National Medical University (Kyiv) in 1997. Then he proceeded to earn a Ph.D. from Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology (Kyiv) in 2004. Later he conducted postdoctoral training... Read more →

The Cure for Malaria Could be in Your Backyard

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that has a disproportionate effect in poor and underdeveloped countries without access to western medicine. According to the WHO’s World Malaria Report, there were 212 million new cases of malaria worldwide in 2015 and an estimated 429,000 deaths. Malaria is caused... Read more →

Trainee Spotlight: Manuel Fierro

Manuel Fierro is a pre-doctoral trainee in Vasant Muralidharan’s Laboratory. He is originally from Ecuador. His family moved to the US when he was 9 years old, and he has lived in Georgia ever since. Manuel received his Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular Biology... Read more →

Roberto Docampo named UGA recipient of SEC Faculty Achievement Award

Athens, Ga. – Roberto Docampo, Distinguished Research Professor of Cellular Biology and Barbara and Sanford Orkin/Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, has been named the University of Georgia’s recipient of the 2017 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award. The award, which is administered by provosts at the... Read more →

Cellular biology professor Rick Tarleton named Regents’ Professor at UGA

Athens, Ga. – Rick Tarleton, Distinguished Research Professor and University of georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor in Biological Sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been named Regents’ Professor, effective July 1. Regents’ Professorships are bestowed by the University System of Georgia’s... Read more →

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