Lister Science Chats: The World of Parasites

Supported by the Lister Family Engaged Science Initiative, the Lister Science Chats connects members of the community through live science talks with researchers from the McGill Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. This chat features three Macdonald Campus graduate students giving an engaging 10-minute talk on their research and will conclude with a Q&A period.    

No registration required. Join us live on ZOOM

Speakers:

Ana Madrigal, PhD candidate, Institute of Parasitology
Parasites: a novel treatment for rheumatoid arthritis 

Parasitic infections have been linked to lower incidences of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. More specifically, Helminths have been proven to have anti-inflammatory immune regulation capabilities. We want to test whether H. polygyrus and its products can lower inflammation in a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Through the extracting of these products, we could find a component that could be used as treatment against RA.

Daniel Moses, MSc student, Institute of Parasitology
Structural analysis of Kinetoplastid RNA Editing Ligase 1

Parasites cause millions of deaths a year. My research focuses on an essential protein in Kinetoplastid parasites KREL1. I aimed to narrow down specific parts of this protein that is crucial for function. Four amino acids of KREL1 have proven to be an attractive target for drug therapy. 

Mojtaba Rostamighadi, PhD candidate, Institute of Parasitology
Finding novel drugs for Kinetoplastid diseases 

TriTryps diseases are devastating parasitic neglected infections caused by Leishmania spp., Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei. They cause high rates of morbidity and mortality in tens of millions of patients in endemic areas, with cases of Chagas’ disease recently reported in North America. Due to the toxicity and parasite drug resistance to the current available treatments, developing novel drugs that selectively inhibit essential parasite-specific pathways/proteins is vital.