Projects per year
Organisation profile
Organisation profile
Introduction
MPU explored the diversity of Leishmania and leishmaniases for over 25 years, ‘from genomes to eco-systems’. As such, we have developed a relevant laboratory experience in (i) parasitology and (ii) molecular biology both in the high-tech context of a modern lab and in the working conditions of a laboratory in a tropical context.
Since 2002, the unit is headed by Jean-Claude Dujardin, zoologist (Facultés Notre Dame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium), doctor in Sciences (VUB) and graduate in Tropical Medical Biology at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp (ITMA). Full Professor, after heading the department of Biomedical Sciences from 2011 to 2021, he is now focusing on research. He has also a 10% affiliation (associate professorship) in the dept of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp and he is visiting lecturer at UNamur. Jean-Claude Dujardin is recognized as a Leishmania specialist worldwide, combining basic and translational expertise on that parasite and the complex of diseases it causes. Over his whole career, he published 253 papers, corresponding to an h-index of 53 (WoS, 25/01/2022). Since 1992, he has coordinated 7 EU-funded multidisciplinary projects; this allowed him to get a broad international network. Very active in communication in newspapers and social media (1409 followers on Twitter on 09/08/22 @DujardinBiomed ), he is used to make research accessible to a broad public.
Main activities
In MPU, we focus on the following research lines
Since 2001, we developed a unique and holistic expertise on parasite contributors to treatment failure, showing that besides the commonly studied drug resistance, other factors were also playing a role like virulence, infection by Leishmania RNA virus and quiescence. We believe that research on drug resistance and quiescence should be integrated in the R&D for innovative anti-leishmania drugs. This is currently supported by the FWO research project ‘Cellular, molecular and functional characterization of quiescence in Leishmania donovani, the etiological agent of visceral leishmaniasis.’
Since 2008, we pioneered research on Leishmania genomics and integrated it in the research line on treatment failure. Our group established the first reference genome of L. donovani and recently upgraded it. We led projects in which the complete genome of 300 Leishmania isolates was sequenced in their clinical and epidemiological context. This is currently supported by the FWO research project ‘Viral evolutionary analyses as a magnifying glass on parasite population dynamics’. MPU became a worldwide recognized leader in phylogenomics and population genomics of Trypanosomatids. We revolutionized Leishmania genomics by directly sequencing parasite genome in host tissues and studying the genome of single cells: this showed (i) that genome of parasites was very different in the patient and in a culture tube and (ii) that the parasite was exploiting mosaicism as a (pre-)adaptive strategy. This is currently supported by an EWI-SOFI project: ‘ Aneuploidy and mosaicism: a strategy for early adaptation to drug pressure in Leishmania’
Since 1998, we have been developing molecular tools for diagnostics and epidemiology of leishmaniases. Beyond publishing new methods, we have extensively invested in standardization of the developed tools, quality assurance and dissemination. As a result, many laboratories in the world have adopted the developed methods for genotyping and molecular epidemiology.
On the education side, we are teaching at ITM, the University of Antwerp and UNamur. J-C Dujardin is currently director of the Master in Tropical Medicine (MTM) -orientation Biomedical Sciences- at ITM and G Van der Auwera is the director of the short course ‘Molecular data for Infectious diseases’ (MID). Since 2001, we supervised 13 postdocs, 28 PhD students and 34 Master students.
Contact
General + MTM: [email protected] Twitter: @DujardinBiomed
Experimental research, drug resistance, quiescence, omics, molecular biology, parasite engineering: [email protected]
Evolution, phylogenomics and population genetics: [email protected]
Typing and molecular epidemiology + MID: [email protected]
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Molecular basis for the potency and selectivity of DNDI-6690, a promising lead for the development of novel anti-leishmanial drugs
Wuyts, E., Dujardin, J., Sterckx, Y. G. & Caljon, G.
27/04/22 → …
Project: PhD-project
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Cellular, molecular and functional characterization of quiescence in Leishmania donovani, the etiological agent of visceral leishmaniasis
Aroni, A., Dujardin, J., Domagalska, M. & Dujardin, J.
27/04/22 → …
Project: PhD-project
Research output
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A preliminary indication that HLA-A*03:01 may be associated with visceral leishmaniasis development in people living with HIV in Ethiopia
de Vrij, N., Vandoren, R., Ramadan, K., Van Hul, A., Ceulemans, A., Kassa, M., Melkamu, R., Yeshanew, A., Bogale, T., Beyene, H., Sisay, K., Kibret, A., Mersha, D., Cuypers, WL., Vogt, F., van Henten, S., Ritmeijer, K., Pham, TT., Meysman, P., Laukens, K., & 5 others , 2024, In: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 18, 9, 17 p., e0012000.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access -
Evolutionary genomics of a zoonotic parasite across the Neotropical realm
Heeren, S., Sanders, M. J., Shaw, J. J., Brandão-Filho, S. P., Côrtes Boité, M., Cantanhêde, L. M., Chourabi, K., Maes, I., Llanos-Cuentas, A., Arevalo, J., Marco, J. D., Lemey, P., Cotton, J. A., Dujardin, J-C., Cupolillo, E. & Van den Broeck, F., 2024, In: bioRxiv.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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Host lifestyle and parasite interspecific facilitation mediate co-infection in a species-poor host-parasite system
Kmentová, N., Cruz-Laufer, AJ., Milec, LJM., Moons, T., Heeren, S., van den Hoorn, E., Thys, KJM., Makasa, L., Manda, AC., Mulungula, PM., Van Steenberge, M., Jorissen, MWP. & Vanhove, MPM., 2024, In: Oikos. 2024, 10, 15 p., e10360.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access