Molecular Parasitology Seminars

5^th Cycle (2026-2027)

6 October 2026 – 14 July 2027

organized by

IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria
Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Sapienza Università di Roma
Università di Pavia

with the advocacy of the Italian Society of Parasitology

Programme 

October 6, 2026, 2:30 p.m. 

Strongyloides ratti: immune response and immune modulation 

Minka Breloer (Bernhard Nocht Institute ForTropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany) 

November 4, 2026, 2:30 p.m. 

Spotted Fever or Jumpin’ Jack Flash? Lateral transfer of a near-complete rickettsial chromosome into the genome of its tick vector 

Ben Makepeace (University of Liverpool, UK) 

December 2, 2026, 2:30 p.m. 

Understanding erythrocyte invasion using zoonotic malaria parasites: new biology and new tools for P. vivax vaccine development 

Robert Moon (London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, UK) 

January 13, 2027, 2:30 p.m. 

Unraveling whipworm’s niche in the intestinal epithelia 

Maria Duque-Correa (University of Cambridge, UK) 

February 3, 2027, 2:30 p.m. 

Deciphering the host-parasite interaction to tackle cryptosporidiosis 

Amandine Guerin (University of Geneva, Switzerland) 

March 3, 2027, 2:30 p.m. 

Advances in gene driver research for the control of malaria mosquitoes  

Alekos Simoni (Imperial College London, UK) 

April 7, 2027, 2:30 p.m. 

Decoding cellular heterogeneity in pathogens: from high-resolution scRNA-seq to semipermeable capsules 

T. Nicolai Siegel (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munchen, Germany) 

May 5, 2027, 2:30 p.m. 

Genomic approaches to understanding drug treatment variation in human whipworms  

Stephen Doyle (Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK) 

June 9, 2027, 2:30 p.m. 

Engineering mosquitoes to break the malaria transmission cycle 

George Christophides (Imperial College London, UK) 

July 14, 2027, 2:30 p.m. 

Vector-virus interactions during arbovirus transmission 

Kevin Maringer (The Pirbright Institute, UK) 

Rationale 

The 5th cycle of the Molecular Parasitology Seminars is intended to provide an overview of recent advances in basic research in the field of molecular parasitology. 

International scholars of recognized scientific excellence will be invited to illustrate some of the most relevant and innovative discoveries in molecular parasitology through online presentations followed by open discussion and Q&A sessions. 

Aims 

The event is designed to update specialists in the field, as well as doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers, on the most recent developments in parasitological research at the international level. 

A further objective is to stimulate interest in parasitology among researchers working in related scientific domains. 

Speakers 

Minka Breloer (Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany), Ben Makepeace (University of Liverpool, UK), Rob Moon (London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, UK), Maria Duque-Correa (University of Cambridge, UK), Amandine Guerin (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Alekos Simoni (Imperial College, London, UK), T. Nicolai Siegel (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munchen, Germany), Stephen Doyle (Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK), George Christophides (Imperial College, London, UK), Kevin Maringer (The Pirbright Institute, Surrey, UK). 

Scientific commettee 

Natalia Tiberti (IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria), e-mail: natalia.tiberti@sacrocuore.it; Anna Olivieri (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), e-mail: anna.olivieri@iss.it; Serena Cavallero, Fabrizio Lombardo (Sapienza Università di Roma), e-mail: serena.cavallero@uniroma1.it, fabrizio.lombardo@uniroma1.it; Maria Vittoria Mancini, Davide Sassera (Università di Pavia), e-mail: mariavittoria.mancini@unipv.it, davide.sassera@unipv.it. 

Organizing Committee 

Ilaria Bellini, Giulia Bevivino (Sapienza Università di Roma), e-mail: ilaria.bellini@uniroma1.it, giulia.bevivino@uniroma1.it; Michela Deiana (IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria), e-mail: michela.deiana@sacrocuore.it; Silvio Paone (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), e-mail: silvio.paone@iss.it. 

Technical Moderators 

Ilaria Bellini, Giulia Bevivino (Sapienza Università di Roma), e-mail: ilaria.bellini@uniroma1.it, giulia.bevivino@uniroma1.it.  

General Information 

The meeting will be held online through the Google Meet videoconference platform. 

Official language: the official language is English. 

Target audience: the event is addressed to Nationale Health Service, as well as to health and research institutions’ personnel, to PhD students and postgraduates in the field of infectious diseases. 

Registration and participation: registrations are open until the 5th of October at the following link  

DOMANDA DI ISCRIZIONE evento ID: 148D26_R – Compila modulo 

Participation is free of charge and will be allowed also without previous registration. In such case, no certificate of attendance will be provided. 

To participate, please, connect to the following link: https://meet.google.com/iod-mrvt-fqe  

Certificates: a certificate of attendance will be provided to those who have attended at least 75% of the total duration of the seminar series. 

Actual participation in the event will be detected by checking the connection logs. 

For any further information about the seminars, please contact the Organizing Committee.