Hitting a moving target: genomic and metabolic approaches to improve anthelmintic use in evolving helminth populations    

Parasitic worms in animals are treated and controlled with a limited number of anthelmintic drugs. However, we do not know how some of the most important drugs work. The widespread development of anthelmintic resistance in parasitic worms – analogous to antibiotic resistance in bacteria – threatens food security and raises concerns about reliance on the same drugs to control related parasites in humans. 

I will use new metabolic and genetic techniques to study drug activity and resistance to important anthelmintics in animal and human health. Initial work will focus on Haemonchus contortus (the barber’s pole worm), an economically important gastrointestinal worm of sheep and a close relative of hookworms. I will also use the cattle filarial worm Onchocerca ochengi as a model for human onchocerciasis – also known as river blindness. 

My research will result in the development of much-needed tools to optimise strategies for control and eradication of parasitic disease.