Education | Laboratory Personnel | General Research Interest | Selected Research Projects
Research and Clinical Interests | Major Specialized Equipment Items Available | Selected Publications
TCSVM Faculty

Giovanni Widmer
Professor
Department of Biomedical Sciences
Infectious Diseases
Phone: 508-839-7944
Fax: 508-839-7911
Email: giovanni.widmer@tufts.edu
Dept. URL: http://www.tufts.edu/vet/dbs/infectious_diseases/
Lab URL: Giardia, Cryptosporidium Testing Services

Education
PhD - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - 1986

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General Research Interest
Molecular biology of protozoan parasites
Waterborne pathogens

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Research Sponsor Interest
Privately Funded Research
Federally Funded Research

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Selected Research Projects

  1. Genetics of Cryptosporidium parvum.
  2. Cryptosporidium genome sequencing.
  3. Detection and genotyping of Cryptospordium oocysts and Giardia cysts in water.
  4. Analysis of complex microbial populations using high-throughput sequencing.

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Selected Publications

  1. Chappell C, Okhuysen P, Langer-Curry R, Akiyoshi D, Widmer G, Tzipori S (2011) Cryptosporidium meleagridis: infectivity in healthy adult volunteers. Am J Trop Med Hyg 85,238-42.

  2. Widmer G, Sullivan S (2011) Genomics and population biology of Cryptosporidium species (Review). Parasite Immunol. May 19. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3024.2011.01301.

  3. Sheoran A, Wiffin A, Widmer G, Tzipori S (2012) Infection with Cryptosporidium hominis provides incomplete protection of the host against C. parvum. J Infect Dis 205,1019-23. PMID:22279124.

  4. Drumo R, Widmer G, Morrison L, Tait A, Grelloni V, D'Avino N, Pozio E, Cacciò S (2012) Population genetics of Cryptosporidium parvum in Italy: evidence of host-associated populations. Appl Environ Microbiol (in press) PMID:22389374.

  5. Faghiri Z, Bonilla Santiago R, Wu Z, Widmer G (2011) High-throughput screening in sub-optimal growth conditions identifies agonists of Giardia lamblia proliferation. Parasitology, 138, 194-200.

  6. Widmer G, Lee Y. (2010) Comparison of single- and multi-locus genetic diversity in the protozoan parasites Cryptosporidium parvum and C. hominis. Appl Environ Microbiol. 76,6639-44. PMID: 20709840.

  7. Faghiri Z, Santiago RB, Wu Z, Widmer G. High-throughput screening in suboptimal growth conditions identifies agonists of Giardia lamblia proliferation. Parasitology. 2010 Aug 10:1-7. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20696097.

  8. Yang YL, Buck GA, Widmer G (2010) Cell sorting-assisted microarray profiling of host cell response to Cryptosporidium parvum infection. Infect Immun 78(3):1040-8. PubMed PMID: 20038534.

  9. Widmer G, Akiyoshi D. (2010) Host specific segregation of ribosomal nucleotide sequence diversity in the microsporidian Enterocytozoon bieneusi. Infect Genet Evol 10(1):122-8 PMID:19931647.

  10. Widmer G (2009) Meta-analysis of a polymorphic surface glycoprotein of the parasitic protozoa Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis.  Epidemiol. Infect. 137,1800-8. PMID: 19527551.

  11. Zhang L, Sheoran AS, Widmer G (2009) Cryptosporidium parvum DNA replication in cell-free culture. J. Parasitol. May 23:1. PMID:19463037.

  12. Yang YL, Serrano MG, Sheoran AS, Manque PA, Buck GA and Widmer G (2009) Over-expression and localization of a host protein on the membrane of Cryptosporidium parvum infected epithelial cells. Molec Biochem Parasitol, 168, 95–101. PMID:19631240.

  13. Ge, G, Cowen L, Feng X, Widmer G (2008) Protein coding gene nucleotide substitution pattern in the apicomplexan protozoa Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis. Comp Funct Genomics doi:10.1155/2008/879023.

  14. Grinberg A, Learmonth J, Kwan E, Pomroy W, Lopes Villalobos N, Gibson I, Widmer G (2008) Genetic diversity and zoonotic potential of Cryptosporidium parvum causing foal diarrhea. J Clin Microbiol 46,2396-8.

  15. Santiago RB, Wu Z, Zhang L, Widmer G (2008) Identification of growth inhibiting compounds in a Giardia lamblia high-throughput screen. Molec Biochem Parasitol DOI 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2008.08.005.

 

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