May 6, 2005 NEW ORLEANS - Tulane University Health Sciences
Center received a grant of nearly $1.5 million over five years
from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
to study the genes of a parasite present in 10 - 30 percent of
the world's population. The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, causes
toxoplasmosis, a serious illness for people with weakened immune
systems. In people who are immunocompromised, toxoplasmosis can
produce severe infections of the brain that may lead to death.
Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common opportunistic parasitic
infections in AIDS patients. It also causes serious infections
in organ and bone marrow transplant recipients. Principal
investigator Tyler Curiel and co-investigators Michael Brumlik
and Shuang Wei recently cloned the first T. gondii gene from an
important gene family. "By identifying the genes in this family,
we have identified targets for new, broad- spectrum drugs to
treat parasitic infections," says Curiel, chief of the section
of hematology and