Rita Tewari | |
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 Rita Tewari speaking at a conference at EMBL | |
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| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Nottingham |
Rita Tewari is an Indian parasitologist who studies the cell and molecular biology of malaria. She currently holds a post as professor at the University of Nottingham.
Tewari was born in Delhi, India, however she moved to the North-East of the country when she was growing up. Her father was a professor in social sciences. Tewari reports having contracted malaria seven times when she was young. [1] [2] [3] She initially wanted to study medicine at university but had to read zoology instead due to a lack of choice in her local area. She returned to the city of her birth for her PhD, studying X-chromosome genetics at the University of Delhi. [4]
Tewari held a number of research posts across Europe after completing her PhD in 1989. In chronological order these included a postdoc at the Institut national de la recherche agronomique, France, senior research associate positions at the National Institute for Medical Research/University of Cambridge and Erasmus University Rotterdam, and as a senior scientist at the Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, Norway. [5] In 1999 she was hired as a research lecturer at Imperial College London, where she first began working on malaria using mice models. [4] She remained here for nine years, notably contributing to research into the role of a calcium-dependent protein kinase in the life cycle of Plasmodium berghei with the lab of Oliver Billker. [6] [7] The results demonstrated the importance of the protein and calcium release in the conversion of sexual blood stage forms of the parasite into reproductive forms upon being taken up by the mosquito. [6]
Tewari became a lecturer at the University of Nottingham in 2008, and was subsequently promoted to associate professor in 2012, and full professor in 2015. [5]
Tewari and her lab have focused on studying the molecular players in malaria transmission and development, using the rodent malaria P. berghei as a model, in the hope of discovering new targets for drugs. [8] A 2012 study published by the group identified a malarial phosphotase essential for the parasite to become and function as the ookinete form, which spreads the parasite through the mosquito. [9] [10] A year later they helped discover a calcium transporter also essential for growth of the parasite. [11] [12] In 2014 Tewari's group published a genetic screen of phosphatases identified across the P. berghei genome. [1] [2] [3] [13] A genetic knock-out could not be generated for half of the genes, suggesting a potentially essential function in the life of the parasite, and six others were found to play important roles in sexual development and transmission. [14] Genomic analysis for protein orthologues and genetic manipulation continues to play a major role in Tewari's work, including the 2015 discovery of malarial cyclins and their importance in development of the oocyst form in the mosquito. [15] [16] [17]
Tewari's work has been accomplished in collaboration with many notable malariologists including Anthony Holder, Robert Sinden and Maria Mota. [18]
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other vertebrates. Human malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin 10 to 15 days after being bitten by an infected Anopheles mosquito. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria.
Plasmodium is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of Plasmodium species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vertebrate host during a blood meal. Parasites grow within a vertebrate body tissue before entering the bloodstream to infect red blood cells. The ensuing destruction of host red blood cells can result in malaria. During this infection, some parasites are picked up by a blood-feeding insect, continuing the life cycle.
Plasmodium falciparum is a unicellular protozoan parasite of humans, and the deadliest species of Plasmodium that causes malaria in humans. The parasite is transmitted through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito and causes the disease's most dangerous form, falciparum malaria. It is responsible for around 50% of all malaria cases. P. falciparum is therefore regarded as the deadliest parasite in humans. It is also associated with the development of blood cancer and is classified as a Group 2A (probable) carcinogen.
Plasmodium vivax is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria. Although it is less virulent than Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the five human malaria parasites, P. vivax malaria infections can lead to severe disease and death, often due to splenomegaly. P. vivax is carried by the female Anopheles mosquito; the males do not bite.
Plasmodium malariae is a parasitic protozoan that causes malaria in humans. It is one of several species of Plasmodium parasites that infect other organisms as pathogens, also including Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, responsible for most malarial infection. Found worldwide, it causes a so-called "benign malaria", not nearly as dangerous as that produced by P. falciparum or P. vivax. The signs include fevers that recur at approximately three-day intervals – a quartan fever or quartan malaria – longer than the two-day (tertian) intervals of the other malarial parasite.
Plasmodium knowlesi is a parasite that causes malaria in humans and other primates. It is found throughout Southeast Asia, and is the most common cause of human malaria in Malaysia. Like other Plasmodium species, P. knowlesi has a life cycle that requires infection of both a mosquito and a warm-blooded host. While the natural warm-blooded hosts of P. knowlesi are likely various Old World monkeys, humans can be infected by P. knowlesi if they are fed upon by infected mosquitoes. P. knowlesi is a eukaryote in the phylum Apicomplexa, genus Plasmodium, and subgenus Plasmodium. It is most closely related to the human parasite Plasmodium vivax as well as other Plasmodium species that infect non-human primates.
Plasmodium berghei is a single-celled parasite causing rodent malaria. It is in the Plasmodium subgenus Vinckeia.
The Anopheles gambiae complex consists of at least seven morphologically indistinguishable species of mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles. The complex was recognised in the 1960s and includes the most important vectors of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly of the most dangerous malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. It is one of the most efficient malaria vectors known. The An. gambiae mosquito additionally transmits Wuchereria bancrofti which causes lymphatic filariasis, a symptom of which is elephantiasis.
Malaria vaccines are vaccines that prevent malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease which annually affects an estimated 247 million people worldwide and causes 619,000 deaths. The first approved vaccine for malaria is RTS,S, known by the brand name Mosquirix. As of April 2023, the vaccine has been given to 1.5 million children living in areas with moderate-to-high malaria transmission. It requires at least three doses in infants by age 2, and a fourth dose extends the protection for another 1–2 years. The vaccine reduces hospital admissions from severe malaria by around 30%.
The history of malaria extends from its prehistoric origin as a zoonotic disease in the primates of Africa through to the 21st century. A widespread and potentially lethal human infectious disease, at its peak malaria infested every continent except Antarctica. Its prevention and treatment have been targeted in science and medicine for hundreds of years. Since the discovery of the Plasmodium parasites which cause it, research attention has focused on their biology as well as that of the mosquitoes which transmit the parasites.
Pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) or placental malaria is a presentation of the common illness that is particularly life-threatening to both mother and developing fetus. PAM is caused primarily by infection with Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the four species of malaria-causing parasites that infect humans. During pregnancy, a woman faces a much higher risk of contracting malaria and of associated complications. Prevention and treatment of malaria are essential components of prenatal care in areas where the parasite is endemic – tropical and subtropical geographic areas. Placental malaria has also been demonstrated to occur in animal models, including in rodent and non-human primate models.
Circumsporozoite protein (CSP) is a secreted protein of the sporozoite stage of the malaria parasite and is the antigenic target of RTS,S and other malaria vaccines. The amino-acid sequence of CSP consists of an immunodominant central repeat region flanked by conserved motifs at the N- and C- termini that are implicated in protein processing as the parasite travels from the mosquito to the mammalian vector. The amino acid sequence of CSP was determined in 1984.
Thioester containing protein 1, often called TEP1 is a key component of the arthropod innate immune system. TEP1 was first identified as a key immunity gene in 2001 through functional studies on Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.
PfSPZ Vaccine is a metabolically active non-replicating whole sporozoite (SPZ) malaria vaccine being developed by Sanaria against Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria. Clinical trials have been safe, extremely well tolerated and highly efficacious. The first generation PfSPZ product is attenuated by gamma irradiation; the second generation vaccines PfSPZ-CVac and PfSPZ LARC2 are, respectively, attenuated chemically and genetically. Multiple studies are ongoing with trials of the PfSPZ vaccines. All three products are produced using the same manufacturing process. These products are stored and distributed below -150 °C using liquid nitrogen (LN2) vapor phase (LNVP) freezers and cryoshippers.
Ruth Sonntag Nussenzweig was an Austrian-Brazilian immunologist specializing in the development of malaria vaccines. In a career spanning over 60 years, she was primarily affiliated with New York University (NYU). She served as C.V. Starr Professor of Medical and Molecular Parasitology at Langone Medical Center, Research Professor at the NYU Department of Pathology, and finally Professor Emerita of Microbiology and Pathology at the NYU Department of Microbiology.
The phosphatome of an organism is the set of phosphatase genes in its genome. Phosphatases are enzymes that catalyze the removal of phosphate from biomolecules. Over half of all cellular proteins are modified by phosphorylation which typically controls their functions. Protein phosphorylation is controlled by the opposing actions of protein phosphatases and protein kinases. Most phosphorylation sites are not linked to a specific phosphatase, so the phosphatome approach allows a global analysis of dephosphorylation, screening to find the phosphatase responsible for a given reaction, and comparative studies between different phosphatases, similar to how protein kinase research has been impacted by the kinome approach.
Asif Mohmmed is an Indian cell biologist, parasitologist and a professor at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi. At ICGEB, he leads a research group on Parasite Cell Biology and is one of the key collaborators of the Tewari Lab at the School of Life Science of the University of Nottingham. He is known for his studies on Plasmodium falciparum proteases with regard to cellular Stress and parasite cell-death and protein-trafficking machinery in the pathogen, as well as the development of new anti-malarial drugs. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles has listed 73 of them. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2011.
Maria Manuel Mota is a Portuguese malariologist and executive director of the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Lisbon.
Wai-Hong Tham is a Malaysian professor at the University of Melbourne and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), and joint head of the division of Infectious Disease and Immune Defense. She researches the molecular biology of the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax.
David A. Fidock, is the CS Hamish Young Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Professor of Medical Sciences at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan.
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