Carol Gilchrist
University of Virginia, VA·Microbiology & Immunology
Diarrheal disease remains one of the leading killers of young children in low- and middle-income countries, and one of the most common culprits is Cryptosporidium, a single-celled parasite spread through contaminated water and food. Children in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia typically only build up immunity after being infected repeatedly, and beyond the illness itself, infection contributes to stunted growth in children who already lack enough food.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Public Health & Epidemiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
Cryptosporidium
cryptosporidiosis
vaccine development
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Optimize the systemic and mucosal immune responses raised by prototype vaccines based on the Cryptosporidium antigens Cp17, Cp23, and CpSMP delivered in liposomes with toll-like receptor agonists, immune-alarm triggers that boost antibody and cellular responses.
- Rank candidate formulations using a prioritization scoring matrix that combines measured mucosal and systemic immune responses, to select the most promising combination for protection testing.
- Test whether a vaccine combining antigens from the extracellular sporozoite stage with antigens from intracellular trophozoite and meront stages protects better than single-stage targeting, using the mouse model of cryptosporidiosis.
- Determine the protective efficacy of the optimal formulation against parasite burden and disease in the Cryptosporidium mouse challenge model.
More about the research
There is no vaccine. This project aims to build one.
Why it matters
Cryptosporidium causes roughly 7 million cases of diarrhea and 200,000 deaths each year and contributes to growth faltering in undernourished children, yet no vaccine exists. A multi-stage vaccine that protects in animal challenge studies could become a candidate for preventing childhood diarrheal disease in the regions where the parasite is most common.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Pamela Wong
University of Michigan, MI·Microbiology & Immunology
Profile the immune responses raised by the combined nanoemulsion plus RIG-I-agonist adjuvant paired with multiple SARS-CoV-2 antigens, comparing injection and mucosal routes, to identify optimal formulations and delivery.
Luther Bartelt
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether purified recombinant Giardia proteases, protein-cutting enzymes secreted by intestinal trophozoites, damage the gut barrier using intestinal epithelial cell monolayers and primary mouse-derived intestinal cells, and whether anti-secretome antibodies block that damage.
Carrie Cowardin
University of Virginia, VA·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether gut microbiota from stunted human infants drive dysregulated intestinal immunity, using germ-free mice colonized with stunted or healthy infant microbiota whose pups are weaned onto a nutrient-deficient diet.
The school
University of Virginia: 43 labs on PI Pages, $814M a year on research, 413 research doctorates a year.
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