Computational approaches to the study of human trypanosomatid infections

Abstract

Trypanosomatids cause human diseases such as leishmaniasis and African trypanosomiasis. Trypanosomatids are protists from the order Trypanosomatida and include species of the genera Trypanosoma and Leishmania, which occupy a similar ecological niche. Both have digenic life-stages, alternating between an insect vector and a range of mammalian hosts. However, the strategies used to subvert the host immune system differ greatly as do the clinical outcome of infections between species. The endemic for Leishmania infantum chagasi, the parasite causing visceral leishmaniasis.These studies identified associations between genetic loci and the development of visceral leishmaniasis, with a single polymorphism associated with an asymptomatic outcome after infection.The methods and results presented here have capitalized on the large amount of genomics data becoming available that will improve our understanding of both parasite and host genetics and their role in human disease.Abstract Approved: ____________________________________ Thesis Supervisor