Name Jane Carlton | ||
Jane M. Carlton is a biologist at New York University whose research centers on the genomics of two groups of single-celled parasites: those which cause malaria (the genus Plasmodium), and a group known as trichomonads, which include the common sexually transmitted parasite Trichomonas vaginalis.
Two species of malaria parasite account for most of the ~219 million cases reported yearly around the world. Both can adapt to and evade the limited arsenal of pharmaceutical weapons we currently use against them. One species, Plasmodium vivax, can even hide in the liver as a ‘sleeper cell’ for months before causing illness. Mastering these parasites will clearly require new approaches.
Historically, scientists looking for ways to attack malaria at the molecular level have focused years of research on single malaria genes that might be vulnerable. Dr. Carlton is among a group of scientists taking a long-term, comprehensive approach—namely, recording and categorizing changes in all of the parasite’s genes at once —with a view toward detecting drug resistance in its earliest stages while it can still be controlled, finding new vulnerabilities in the parasite’s genome that can be exploited to fight malaria, and last but not least, providing basic understanding of the parasite’s complex biology. As Faculty Director of Genomic Sequencing at NYU’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Carlton is examining the genomes of dozens of malaria isolates at a time. Recently Dr. Carlton and her colleagues sequenced several genomes from both a human malaria species (P. vivax) and a closely related monkey malaria parasite (Plasmodium cynomolgi), producing a more detailed picture of malaria evolution and uncovering a surprising amount of genetic variety in the latter.
Malaria today is primarily a disease of the developing world, including India, the world’s second most populous nation. Dr. Carlton collaborates with scientists at India’s National Institute for Malaria Research to develop new research paths and control strategies for the disease there. As Program Director of a seven-year NIH International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research based jointly in New Delhi and NYU, she heads the first pan-Indian genomic survey of malaria parasite strains, along with an in-depth epidemiological study of how the malaria is transmitted and manifests itself in different ecologies and societies in India.
Trichomonads are single-celled parasites that infect human and other mammals, as well as birds. One such parasite is Trichomonas vaginalis, which causes the most widespread non-viral human STD, trichomoniasis (aka ‘trich’). Dr. Carlton led the group that sequenced the genome of T. vaginalis in 2007 – the first sequencing of any trichomonad genome – and uncovered families of genes that may be responsible for the membrane irritation and damage associated with trich. The sequencing project also revealed that the parasite’s genome is surprisingly large and composed mostly of highly repetitive ‘mobile’ DNA elements.
Carlton received her Ph.D. in genetics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and has worked at several scientific institutions in the U.S., including the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Institutes of Health and the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR).
She received the American Society of Parasitologists’ Stoll-Stunkard Memorial Award in 2010, was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012, and has published more than 90 research articles and reviews.