A 2027 Crick PhD project with Adam Sateriale.
Project background and description
Cryptosporidium is an intracellular parasite that causes a severe diarrhoeal disease known as cryptosporidiosis. In young children cryptosporidiosis infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality; even mild cases are linked to growth stunting and impaired cognitive development. Despite this significant impact on global health, very little is known about the infection and the host immune response[1]. Our lab studies this interplay of virulence and immunity using cell-based and mouse models of infection to answer fundamental questions about host-pathogen interactions:
How does the parasite remodel infected epithelial cells and escape immune clearance?[2, 3] What parasite factors are associated with highly virulent strains?[4] How do they function? What host factors predispose one to a severe infection? How do they function?
How does the parasite remodel infected epithelial cells and escape immune clearance?[2, 3] What parasite factors are associated with highly virulent strains?[4] How do they function? What host factors predispose one to a severe infection? How do they function?
Candidate background
We are interested in candidates with a strong interest in infectious disease and a desire to work on projects that bridge virulence and immunity. Projects generally involve CRISPR driven genetic manipulation, super resolution and ultrastructure expansion microscopy, flow cytometry and cell sorting, high-throughput sequencing, bioinformatics, and basic molecular techniques. Expertise in these areas is beneficial, but certainly not a pre-requisite.
Lab-specific question
What area(s) of research do you find particularly interesting and why?
References
- Gilbert, I.H., Vinayak, S., Striepen, B., Manjunatha, U.H., Khalil, I.A., Van Voorhis, W.C. and Cryptosporidiosis Therapeutics Advocacy Group, CTAG (2023) Safe and effective treatments are needed for cryptosporidiosis, a truly neglected tropical disease. BMJ Global Health 8: e012540. PubMed abstract
- Rodrigues, E., Pallett, M.A., Straker, L.C., Mkandawire, T.T., Sala, K., Collinson, L. and Sateriale, A. (2025) Cryptosporidium modifies intestinal microvilli through an exported virulence factor. Cell Host & Microbe 33: 719–730 .e715. PubMed abstract
- Marzook, N.B., Song, O.R., Baumgartel, L., Bernitz, N., Mkandawire, T.T., Watson, L.C., . . . Sateriale, A. (2025) The essential host genome for Cryptosporidium survival exposes metabolic dependencies that can be leveraged for treatment. Cell 188: 5947–5961 e5915. PubMed abstract
- Watson, L.C., Sala, K.A., Bernitz, N., Baumgartel, L., Pallett, M.A., Marzook, N.B., . . . Sateriale, A. (2025) Targeted CRISPR screens reveal genes essential for Cryptosporidium survival in the host intestine. Nature Communications 16: 7749. PubMed abstract
