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Boris Striepen
Associate Professor of Cellular Biology
Creative Research Medal 2007
Boris Striepen, Associate Professor of Cellular Biology, has established himself as a world leader in the field of molecular parasitology using a blend of genetic, cellular and computational tools. Building on his outstanding work as a post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania, Striepen made new discoveries at UGA’s Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases about the cell biology and biochemistry of Toxoplasmaand Cryptosporidium, two human parasites that can cause disease and fatalities in immunocompromised patients and small children. Striepen demonstrated that if parasite chloroplast replication was disrupted, the parasite would die. Yet scientists still didn’t understand the role that the chloroplast played in keeping the organism alive. However, in 2006, Striepen published a landmark paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences detailing the apicoplast’s essential role of providingfatty acid synthesis for the parasite. His work offers the possibility of new therapeutic agents in the treatment of a host of infectious diseases in humans as well as livestock.
Source: 28th Annual Research Awards Program (2007)
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