不良研究所

Focus

We are studying the genetic factors that predispose to tuberculosis and leprosy, two important mycobacterial infections that affect and kill an estimated three million people each year. In particular, the only effective and workable approach to break the transmission cycle of tuberculosis is the availability of a universally efficacious vaccine. Hence, we are working on the identification of host gene variants that determine the protective efficacy of present and newly developed tuberculosis vaccines. To accomplish our scientific objectives, we are collaborating closely with several research groups in the developing world and maintain several field sites for the genetic epidemiological analysis of tuberculosis and leprosy.

Keywords

Tuberculosis, leprosy, human genetics

Selected Publications

V.M. Fava, Y.Z. Xu, G. Lettre, N.V. Thuc, M. Orlova, V.H. Thai, G. Cambri, S. Tao, L. Ramanuj, L. Adams, A. Cobat, A. Alca茂s, L. Abel, E. Schurr Pleiotropic effects for Parkin and LRRK2 in leprosy reversal reactions and Parkinson鈥檚 disease Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 116:15616-15624, 2019

M. Dallmann-Sauer, V.M. Fava, C. Gzara, M. Orlova, N.V. Thuc, V.H. Thai, A. Alca茂s, L. Abel, A. Cobat, E. Schurr The complex pattern of genetic associations of leprosy with class I and class II HLA alleles can be reduced to four amino acid positions. PLoS Pathog, 16(8):e1008818, 2020

W. Correa-Macedo, V.M. Fava, M. Orlova, P. Cassart, R Olivenstein, J. Sanz, A. Dumaine, R.H.M. Sindeaux, V. Yotova, A. Pacis, J. Girouard, B. Kalsdorf, C. Lange, J.-P. Routy, L.B. Barreiro, E. Schurr, Epigenetic impairment and blunted transcriptional response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis of alveolar macrophages from persons living with HIV, J Clin Invest, Sep 2:148013. doi: 10.1172/JCI148013, 2021

COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (E. Schurr), Mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19, Nature, 600:472, 2021

V.M. Fava, M. Bourgey, P.M. Nawarathna, M. Orlova, Pauline Cassart, M.P. Cheng, G. Bourque, E. Schurr, D. Langlais A system biology approach identifies candidate drugs to reduce mortality in severely ill COVID-19 patients, Sci Adv, 8(22):eabm2510, 2022

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