Infection in malaria-transmitting mosquito discovered
Finding could lead to new strategies for malaria control For immediate release: June 6, 2014 Boston, MA – Researchers have found the first evidence of an intercellular bacterial infection in natural populations of two species of Anopheles mosquitoes,…
HIV drug resistance test earns top honors at Deans’ Challenge
May 28, 2014 — HIV is now considered a chronic but manageable infection with the proper medication, but 10% of patients every year develop resistance to the drugs they are prescribed. Now, an affordable and quick test for…
A passion for science—and fighting malaria
May 22, 2014 -- Before Perrine Marcenac even enrolled at Harvard School of Public Health, the institution changed her life. During an interview for the PhD Program in Biological Sciences in Public Health, Marcenac found herself fascinated by…
Students raise malaria awareness with flash mobs
Harvard’s Defeating Malaria initiative, spearheaded by Harvard School of Public Health, sponsored a student-led event called “Mob Malaria” in commemoration of World Malaria Day on April 25. Two hundred students gathered in the Science Center Plaza to participate…
Cure for ‘silent killer’ remains elusive
April 30, 2014 — Barbara Burleigh, associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases, studies Chagas disease, a leading cause of infectious heart failure. The disease is a major health and economic burden in Latin America, where it’s endemic,…
MRSA spreads to the barnyard
From farm animals to family pets, the deadly bacteria may lurk where you least expect it March 20, 2014—If you think the drug-resistant infectious bacteria MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is just a hospital or nursing home problem—think again. In…
TB, HIV targeted by student researchers
February 18, 2014 — When people who have been cured of tuberculosis (TB) re-develop the disease, are they relapsing or fighting a new strain? How often should HIV/AIDS patients be tested to see if antiretroviral treatment is working?…
Paving the way to the polio vaccine
The iron lung, invented by HSPH’s Philip Drinker in 1928, pulled thousands of polio sufferers back from the brink of death. But with polio still ravaging the world, scientists in the 1930s and 1940s were frantically working on…
Role of lung lesions in tuberculosis explored
For years scientists have sought to unravel the mystery of why about 90% of people infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB), remain symptom-free for years, while the remaining 10% become sick and may die.…
TB survival mechanism explained
In a new paper, Eric Rubin, professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues describe how tuberculosis (TB) bacteria undergo metabolic adaptation to survive attempts by immune system cells to kill them…