Projects per year
Personal profile
Research expertise
Jan Van Den Abbeele graduated as a zoologist and obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Antwerp in 2001.
During this period, he was trained as a parasitologist and insect molecular biologist at the Unit of Entomology at Institute of Tropical Medicine and at the Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) where he studied different aspects of the development of the Trypanosoma brucei parasite in the tsetse fly.
Currently, he is full professor at ITM and head of the Trypanosoma Unit. He is coordinator of the Group Protozoa of the BMS department, vice-chair of the Institutional Ethics board, and member of the ITM Policy Commission Research. In November 2011, he was awarded with an ERC-Starting Grant/Consolidator with the project NANOSYM:
'Symbiotic bacteria as a delivery system for Nanobodies that target the insect-parasite interplay’.
His research focuses on African trypanosomes (Trypanosoma brucei sp. and T. congolense) , protozoan parasites that causes devastating diseases in humans (sleeping sickness) and livestock (Animal trypanosomiasis). It aims to improve our understanding of i) the parasite adaptive changes during key life cycle stages and its interplay with the host micro-environments and ii) the underlying mechanisms of parasite drug resistance. Besides this basic research, his unit develops and/or optimizes methods for improved sleeping sickness parasite diagnosis and molecular surveillance.
Since 2021, his unit is WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on Human African Trypanosomiasis.
Current Research Themes
- Trypanosome survival mechanism and adaptation to different host environments with focus on key stages in the parasite life cycle in the tsetse fly (metacyclic stage) and the mammalian host (early skin stage); role of trypanosome surface proteins during these key stages and their potential for vaccine-based targeting to block early infection after tsetse fly transmission;
- The host skin immune environment after a trypanosome-infected tsetse bite;
- Role of tsetse fly saliva in trypanosome development;
- Mechanisms of drug transport and the acquisition of drug resistance in livestock trypanosomes;
- Development of molecular surveillance tools for T. brucei gambiense;
- Development and optimization of an anti-tsetse saliva ELISA as an epidemiological tool to measure tsetse fly exposure of the mammalian host population;
- Genetical modification of Sodalis glossinidius to deliver trypanosome-targeting molecules (paratransgenesis).
ERC-NANOSYM project – BBC World
EC-TRYRAC project (Trypanosomosis Rational Chemotherapy)
Teaching expertise
- Laboratory diagnostics
- Biological transmission of vector-borne diseases
- African trypanosomiasis
- Molecular biology
Education/Academic qualification
Master
PhD
External positions
Guest Professor, Ghent University
1-Mar-2013 → 29-Feb-2016
Keywords
- B361-physiology-of-invertebrates
- tsetse fly
- trypanosome transmission
- innate immunity
- salivary gland proteins
- bacterial symbionts
- paratransgenesis
- B750-veterinary-medicine
- Animal African trypanosomiasis
- Trypanosoma congolense
- Trypanosoma vivax
- drug resistance
- genetic diversity
- evolution and transmission dynamics
- B780-tropical-medicine
- Human African trypanosomiasis
- Trypanosoma brucei
- host innate immunity
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Exploring the non-coding RNA in tsetse fly saliva and its effect on the host innate immune response and trypanosome development at the host skin bite site.
Odhiambo, P. O., Van Den Abbeele, J., Monsieurs, P., Dujardin, J. & Masiga, D.
1/01/24 → …
Project: PhD-project
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Development and validation of next-generation serodiagnostics for the elimination of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense human African trypanosomiasis.
Tablado Alonso, S., Hasker, E., Rigouts, L., Van Den Abbeele, J. & Mumba-Ngoyi, D.
8/06/23 → …
Project: PhD-project
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PREPARAS: Proof-of-concept projects Pandemic Preparedness: Panemic preparedness against protozoan parasites through the establishment of a hybrid camelid single-domain antibody platform
Sterckx, Y., Van Den Abbeele, J., Dujardin, J., Rosanas-Urgell, A. & Van Peer, N.
1/05/23 → 31/12/24
Project: Research Project
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TRYPTACKLE: Tackling the livestock parasite Trypanosoma congolense by targeting invariant surface proteins
Van Den Abbeele, J., Sterckx, Y. & Van Den Abbeele, J.
Flemish Government - Department of Economy, Science & Innovation
1/01/23 → 31/12/26
Project: Research Project
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HAT diagn EoT: HAT diagnostics to support EoT
Van Den Abbeele, J., Van Reet, N. & Van Den Abbeele, J.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
1/12/22 → 30/11/25
Project: Research Project
Research output
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The Trypanosoma brucei MISP family of invariant proteins is co-expressed with BARP as triple helical bundle structures on the surface of salivary gland forms, but is dispensable for parasite development within the tsetse vector
Casas-Sanchez, A., Ramaswamy, R., Perally, S., Haines, L. R., Rose, C., Aguilera-Flores, M., Portillo, S., Verbeelen, M., Hussain, S., Smithson, L., Yunta, C., Lehane, M. J., Vaughan, S., Van Den Abbeele, J., Almeida, I. C., Boulanger, M. J. & Acosta-Serrano, A., 2023, In: PLoS Pathogens. 19, 3, e1011269.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access -
A multi-adenylate cyclase regulator at the flagellar tip controls African trypanosome transmission
Bachmaier, S., Giacomelli, G., Calvo-Alvarez, E., Vieira, L. R., Van Den Abbeele, J., Aristodemou, A., Lorentzen, E., Gould, M., Brennand, A., Dupuy, J-W., Forne, I., Imhof, A., Bramkamp, M., Salmon, D., Rotureau, B. & Boshart, M., 2022, In: Nature Communications. 13, 1, p. 5445 17 p., 5445.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open AccessFile28 Downloads (Pure) -
Heme-deficient metabolism and impaired cellular differentiation as an evolutionary trade-off for human infectivity in Trypanosoma brucei gambiense
Horakova, E., Lecordier, L., Cunha, P., Sobotka, R., Changmai, P., Langedijk, C. J. M., Van den Abbeele, J., Vanhollebeke, B. & Lukes, J., 2022, In: Nature Communications. 13, 1, p. 7075 14 p., 7075.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open AccessFile15 Downloads (Pure) -
Prevalence of Trypanosoma and Sodalis in wild populations of tsetse flies and their impact on sterile insect technique programmes for tsetse eradication
Dieng, M. M., Dera, K-S. M., Moyaba, P., Ouedraogo, G. M. S., Demirbas-Uzel, G., Gstöttenmayer, F., Mulandane, F. C., Neves, L., Mdluli, S., Rayaisse, J-B., Belem, A. M. G., Pagabeleguem, S., de Beer, C. J., Parker, A. G., Van Den Abbeele, J., Mach, R. L., Vreysen, M. J. B. & Abd-Alla, A. M. M., 2022, In: Scientific Reports. 12, 1, 17 p., 3322.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open AccessFile22 Downloads (Pure) -
Targeting the tsetse-trypanosome interplay using genetically engineered Sodalis glossinidius
De Vooght, L., De Ridder, K., Hussain, S., Stijlemans, B., De Baetselier, P., Caljon, G. & Van Den Abbeele, J., 2022, In: PLoS Pathogens. 18, 3, 23 p., e1010376.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open AccessFile23 Downloads (Pure)