Wellington Owusu
Research Officer
Centre for Biodiversity Conservation Research, University of Ghana, Ghana
Email: Wellington.owusu@gmail.com
VALIDATE Role:
Network Associate
Research Keywords:
TB Diagnostics, Neglected Tropical Diseases Research, Clinical Drug Trials
Biography:
My core research interest is related to immunity of tuberculosis. Currently I am doing my PhD on TB immunology specifically, modulation of C-type lectine receptor by helminth and HIV.
Effective vaccine is one of the vital needs for the control of TB. Hence it is extremely important to understand and consider the contribution of concomitant helminth infection during the work of vaccine studies in helminth endemic settings. Here, this project is proposed by the collaboration of partners from Germany and Ethiopia to investigate the effects of infection with helminths on the expression levels of the CLR as well as on the responsiveness to mycobacterial ligands. The working hypothesis of this project is that helminth infections in humans reduce CLR expression levels, thereby impair sensing of mycobacteria by host cells and compromise innate resistance. Moreover, we hypothesize that helminth-induced Th2 immune status down regulates CLR expression and that these changes may be reversible upon treatment of helminth infection.
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