Professor Alan Cowman
Details
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Division: Infection and Immunity
Research Overview
Our laboratory works predominantly on Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of the most severe form of malaria in humans. This disease causes millions of deaths and much suffering for people living in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Our main aim is to understand how this parasite infects humans and the mechanisms it uses to evade host immune responses as this knowledge is critical in identifying and designing new treatments and vaccines urgently required for this disease.
Research Projects
How does P.falciparum invade the human erythrocyte?
Remodelling of the erythrocyte during and after merozoite invasion
Evasion of host immune responses
Major Publications
- Tonkin CJ, Carret CK, Duraisingh MT, Voss TS, Ralph SA, Hommel M, Duffy MF, Mancio da Silva L, Scherf A, Ivens A, Speed TS, Beeson JG, Cowman AF.
Sir2 Paralogues Cooperate to Regulate Virulence Genes and Antigenic Variation in Plasmodium falciparum.
Plos Biol [in press] - Boddey JA, Moritz RL, Simpson RJ, Cowman AF.
Role of the Plasmodium export element in trafficking parasite proteins to the infected erythrocyte.
Traffic. 2009 Mar;10(3):285-99. Epub 2008 Dec 4. PMID: 19055692 [PubMed - in process] - Maier AG, Rug M, O'Neill MT, Brown M, Chakravorty S, Szestak T, Chesson J, Wu Y, Hughes K, Coppel RL, Newbold C, Beeson JG, Craig A, Crabb BS, Cowman AF.
Exported proteins required for virulence and rigidity of Plasmodium falciparum-infected human erythrocytes
Cell. 2008 Jul 11;134(1):48-61. PMID: 18614010 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] - Baum J, Tonkin CJ, Paul AS, Rug M, Smith BJ, Gould SB, Richard D, Pollard TD, Cowman AF.
A malaria parasite formin regulates actin polymerization and localizes to the parasite-erythrocyte moving junction during invasion.
Cell Host Microbe. 2008 Mar 13;3(3):188-98 PMID: 18329618 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] - Maier AG, Rug M, O'Neill MT, Beeson JG, Marti M, Reeder J, Cowman AF.
Skeleton-binding protein 1 functions at the parasitophorous vacuole membrane to traffic PfEMP1 to the Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocyte surface.
Blood. 2007 Feb 1;109(3):1289-97 PMID: 17023587 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] - Baum J, Papenfuss AT, Baum B, Speed TP, Cowman AF.
Regulation of apicomplexan actin-based motility.
Nat Rev Microbiol. 2006 Aug;4(8):621-8 PMID: 16845432 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] - Cowman AF, Crabb BS.
Invasion of red blood cells by malaria parasites.
Cell. 2006 Feb 24;124(4):755-66 PMID: 16497586 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] - Voss TS, Healer J, Marty AJ, Duffy MF, Thompson JK, Beeson JG, Reeder JC, Crabb BS, Cowman AF.
A var gene promoter controls allelic exclusion of virulence genes in Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
Nature. 2006 Feb 23;439(7079):1004-8 PMID: 16382237 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] - Stubbs J, Simpson KM, Triglia T, Plouffe D, Tonkin CJ, Duraisingh MT, Maier AG, Winzeler EA, Cowman AF.
Molecular mechanism for switching of P. falciparum invasion pathways into human erythrocytes.
Science. 2005 Aug 26;309(5739):1384-7 PMID: 16123303 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] - Knuepfer E, Rug M, Klonis N, Tilley L, Cowman AF.
Trafficking of the major virulence factor to the surface of transfected P.falciparum-infected erythrocytes.
Blood PMID: 15692070 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Click here to view more PubMed publications
Current Laboratory Members
Faculty Member: Alan Cowman, BSc(Hons) Griffith FAA PhD Melb
Senior Postdoctoral Fellow: Justin Boddey, BBiomedSc(Hons) PhD Griffith
Senior Postdoctoral Fellow: Lin Chen, PhD LaTrobe
Senior Postdoctoral Fellow: Julie Healer, BSc(Hons) Glasgow M.Phil London PhD Edinburgh
Senior Postdoctoral Fellow: Dave Richard, PhD Laval
Senior Postdoctoral Fellow: Melanie Rug, PhD Heidelberg
Senior Postdoctoral Fellow: Wai-Hong Tham, BA California PhD Princeton
Senior Postdoctoral Fellow: Alex Uboldi, BSc(Hons) PhD Witwatersrand
Postdoctoral Fellow: Teresa Carvalho
Postdoctoral Fellow: Svenja Gunther, PhD Glasgow
Postdoctoral Fellow: Thomas Nebl, PhD LaTrobe
Postdoctoral Fellow: Jennifer Volz, MSc Humboldt PhD EMBL
Senior Research Scientist: Tony Hodder, BSc(Hons) PhD Mon
Senior Research Scientist: Tony Triglia, BSc(Hons) MSc Melb
Research Assistant: Dejan Bursac
Research Assistant: Ping Cannon, BSc Shanghai
Research Assistant: Raksmei Keo
Research Assistant: Christine Langer
Research Assistant: Sash Lopaticki, BSc(Hons) VUT
Research Assistant: Matthew O'Neill, BSc(Hons) Melb
Research Assistant: Thuan Phuong, BSc(Hons) LaTrobe
Research Assistant: Jennifer Thompson, MSc Melb
UROP Student: Mark Hayes
Administrative Officer: Marian Cravino