John Boothroyd

Administrative Appointments

• Associate Vice-Provost for Graduate Education, Stanford University (2008 - present)
• Senior Associate Dean for Research and Training, Stanford University School of Medicine (2002 - 2005)
• Chair, Dept. Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine (1999 - 2002)
• Chair, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Advisory Panel on Molecular Parasitology (1999 - 2001)
• Chair, Gordon Conference on Parasitism (1999 - 1999)

Honors and Awards

• Leuckart Medal, German Society for Parasitology (2008)
• Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (2007)
• Senior Scholar in Global Infectious Diseases, Ellison Medical Foundation (2002-2006)
• Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (2002)
• Scholar Award in Molecular Parasitology, Burroughs Wellcome Fund (1986-1991)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Kerry Buchholz,  Sarah Ewald,  Pascale Guiton,  Felice Kelly,  Michael Panas,  Moritz Treeck

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Immunology
• Microbiology and Immunology

Internet Links

• Boothroyd Lab Home Page

Current Research Interests

Studies on the cell and molecular biology of parasitic protozoa are critically important for two reasons; first, these organisms are major pathogens of humans and anaimals and, second, they have proven to be a source of some remarkable phenomena that have challenged much of the dogma thought to be universal in eukaryotic biology. We have been studying two of these single-celled eukaryotes, Trypanosoma brucei and Toxoplasma gondii. Each has its own features that make it interesting to the scientist and both are major pathogens, trypanosomes being the cause of sleeping sickness in Africa and Toxoplasma being a major opporunistic pathogen of AIDS patients. As of, 1998, however, we have focused our entire effort on Toxoplasma because of its growing importance and our results developing this system for modern genetic analysis (we now have a full genetic "toolbox" for this intracellular parasite including a genetic map, efficient genetic transformation and gene knock-out).

The major areas where the lab is currently working are:

(i) Intracellular parasitism: how does this parasite attach, invade and reproduce within virtually any nucleated cell.
(ii) Protein trafficking; how are proteins destined for novel secretory organelles specifically targeted and, ultimately, injected into the host cell during invasion?
(iii) Developmental biology; what genes are crucial for asexual development from the actively dividing to the latent form of the parasite and what are the cis- and trans-elements that control that expression.
(iv) Host-pathogen interaction: what changes occur in the host cell in response to infection?
(v) Pathogenesis: what properties make certain strains more virulent than others?

Publications

• Infected Dendritic Cells Facilitate Systemic Dissemination and Transplacental Passage of the Obligate Intracellular Parasite Neospora caninum in Mice. Collantes-Fernandez E, Arrighi RB, Alvarez-García G, Weidner JM, Regidor-Cerrillo J, Boothroyd JC, Ortega-Mora LM, Barragan A. PLoS One. 2012; 7 (3): e32123
• Proteomic analysis of fractionated toxoplasma oocysts reveals clues to their environmental resistance. Fritz HM, Bowyer PW, Bogyo M, Conrad PA, Boothroyd JC. PLoS One. 2012; 7 (1): e29955
• Tissue barriers of the human placenta to infection with Toxoplasma gondii. Robbins JR, Zeldovich VB, Poukchanski A, Boothroyd JC, Bakardjiev AI. Infect Immun. 2012; 80 (1): 418-28
• Transcriptomic analysis of toxoplasma development reveals many novel functions and structures specific to sporozoites and oocysts. Fritz HM, Buchholz KR, Chen X, Durbin-Johnson B, Rocke DM, Conrad PA, Boothroyd JC. PLoS One. 2012; 7 (2): e29998
• A conserved non-canonical motif in the pseudoactive site of the ROP5 pseudokinase domain mediates its effect on Toxoplasma virulence. Reese ML, Boothroyd JC. J Biol Chem. 2011; 286 (33): 29366-75