A Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) researcher has received a grant for schistosomiasis vaccine research from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Afzal A. Siddiqui, Ph.D., a Grover E. Murray Distinguished Professor at the TTUHSC School of Medicine, received an additional $2,394,006 grant for the pre-clinical development of a vaccine for the human parasitic disease, schistosomiasis.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation previously has awarded Siddiqui $3,122,659 for his research, “Proof of concept trial of Sm-p80/GLA-SE schistosomiasis vaccine.” With this award, the total amount of funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on this project now stands at $5,516,665.
In 2016, the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s prestigious journal, Science, ranked schistosomiasis vaccine as one of the top ten vaccines that need to be urgently developed. The disease, which currently affects more than 200 million people, is not found in the U.S., but is endemic in 78 developing countries. An additional 800 million people are at risk of contracting schistosomiasis.
“An effective schistosomiasis vaccine could potentially impact up to one billion people in 78 countries where the disease is widespread,” said TTUHSC President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D. “Dr. Siddiqui’s approach is to develop a vaccine that resolves the pathology. This vaccine is intended to prevent infections as well as treat existing infection.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, a person gets a schistosoma infection through contact with contaminated water. The parasite swims freely in open bodies of water. Once contact is made with humans, the parasite burrows into the skin, matures into another stage, and then migrates to the lungs and liver, where it matures into the adult form. Siddiqui said detection of calcified schistosome eggs in Egyptian mummies from the 20th dynasty (1250-1000 BC) tells us that schistosomiasis is an ancient disease. He has studied schistosomiasis for more than 25 years working to develop this vaccine.
“Major pathology of schistosomiasis is due to immunological reactions to schistosome eggs trapped in tissues,” Siddiqui said. “Continuing infection causes enlargement of the liver and blood in urine. We see pictures of children from Africa with bulging bellies because of this disease.”
(Press release from Texas Tech Health Sciences Center)
