Killer Diseases

All viruses reproduce by invading the cells of their host and causing the infected cells to make many new copies of the virus. Viruses exit the infected cells and spread to other cells either within the same host or to another organism. We are researching how viruses escape from infected cells and how we can inhibit their departure in an effort to find more ways to prevent the spread of virus infections.

The bacterium Clostridium difficile is one of the leading causes of hospital-associated infections, causing diarrhoea and in some cases leading to death. It thrives in a hospital environment, using its resistance to antibiotics to infect patients who are receiving antibiotics, or who have a compromised immune system. A promising treatment (and not only for Clostridium difficile associated infections) is a faecal transplant from a healthy person. Expect to see ‘crapsules’ at your local pharmacist in the years to come.

Every year there are about 200 Million cases of malaria worldwide leading to over 400,000 deaths. Why has it been so difficult to get rid of malaria? One reason is the ability of malaria parasites to live within humans for long periods without causing disease. Through research on the biology of malaria parasites we are learning to understand how they do this by modifying the behaviour of our red blood cells. We hope that this understanding will lead to new interventions against this extremely clever parasite.