Staff profile

Professor Terry Spithill

Co-Director of AgriBio: The Centre for AgrioBioscience

Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering

School of Life Sciences
Department of Agricultural Science
AgriBio, the Centre for AgriBioscience

R.L. Reid Building Room 306, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

PhD (Biochemistry) Monash

Membership of professional associations

Vice President of the Australian Society for Parasitology

Area of study

Animal and Veterinary Bioscience

Brief profile

After completing a PhD (Biochemistry) at Monash University in 1977, I undertook postdoctoral studies at Mahidol University (Thailand), Colorado State University and UCLA (1977-1981). Since 1981, I have held positions as a Research Scientist at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville; Head of Department at Victorian Institute of Animal Science, Attwood; Associate Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University, Clayton; Director of the Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Canada where I held a prestigious Canada Research Chair in Immunoparasitology (2002-7). In 2007, I returned to Australia as a Strategic Research Professor at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. In December 2010 I joined La Trobe University where I continue my work using molecular approaches to develop vaccines or drugs to control parasitic diseases.

My recent research has focused on the parasites Fasciola (liver fluke) and Plasmodium (malaria), studying areas such as host immune responses to parasites, parasite immune evasion mechanisms, drug resistance, parasite proteomics and vaccine and drug target discovery. This involves characterising parasite molecules that determine virulence and pathogenesis using genomic and proteomic approaches, with the long term aim of developing vaccines based on these molecules.

My research has a deliberate international outlook with current collaborations in China, Thailand, Sudan, Uruguay, UK and Australia.

Research interests

Parasitology

- Chemically-attenuated malaria vaccines

- Identify and characterize surface-exposed tegument proteins expressed in F hepatica

- Population genetics of triclabendazole resistance in liver fluke parasites

Teaching units

AGR3ANI Animal Health

AGR3ANM Animals and Mankind

Supervise 1 Postdoctoral Fellow, 3 PhD students, 1 Honours student

Consulting

I consult with certain Animal Health companies.

Recent publications

Purcell, L.A., Leitao, R., Ono, T., Yanow,S.K., Pradel, G., SPITHILL, T.W., Rodriguez, A. A putative kinase related protein (PKRP) from Plasmodium berghei mediates infection in the midgut and salivary glands of the mosquito. Int J Parasitol. 40: 979-988 (2010).

Ndao, M., SPITHILL, T.W., Caffrey, R., Li, H., Podust, V.N., Perichon, R., Santamaria, C., Ache, A., Duncan, M., Powell, M.R., Ward, B.J. Identification of novel diagnostic serum biomarkers for Chagas' disease in asymptomatic subjects by mass spectrometric profiling. J Clin Microbiol. 48:1139-49 (2010).

Piedrafita, D., SPITHILL, T.W., Smith, R.E., Raadsma, H.W. Improving animal and human health through understanding liver fluke immunology. Parasite Immunology 32:572-581 (2010).

Smooker, P.M., Jayaraj, R., Pike, R.N., SPITHILL, T.W. Cathepsin B proteases of flukes – the key to facilitating parasite control? Trends in Parasitology 26:506-514 (2010).

Ndao, M., Rainczuk, A., Rioux, M-C., SPITHILL, T.W., Ward, B.J. Is SELDI-TOF a valid tool for diagnostic biomarkers? Trends in Parasitology 26:561-567 ( 2010).

Norbury, L.J., Beckham, .S, Pike, R.N., Grams, R., SPITHILL, T.W., Fecondo, J.V., Smooker, P.M. Adult and juvenile Fasciola cathepsin L proteases: Different enzymes for different roles. Biochimie. 93: 604-11 (2011). 

Young, N.D., Jex, A.R., Cantacessi, C., Hall, R.,Campbell, B.E., Tangkawatana, S., Laha, T., SPITHILL, T.W., Gasser, R.B. A portrait of the transcriptome of the neglected trematode, Fasciola gigantica - biological and biotechnological implications. PLoS NTD PLoS NTD 5(2): e1004 (2011).

R .A. Wilson., J. M. Wright., W.de Castro Borges., S J. Parker-Manuel., A.A. Dowle., P. D. Ashton., N. D. Young., R.B. Gasser and T.W. SPITHILL. Exploring the Fasciola hepatica tegument proteome. Int J Parasitology 41:1347-59 (2011).

Resume

Download Resume

Older publications

A complete list of my publications can be found on the PubMed web site at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed and search under "Spithill TW"

Research projects

Current research projects:

I have PhD projects available for study that offer the opportunity to perform cutting edge research using the techniques of immunology, molecular biology and protein chemistry. Students who would be competitive to obtain student scholarships, have an interest in studying medical or veterinary diseases and would like to acquire training in modern molecular techniques in a stimulating environment are encouraged to contact me by email or telephone.

Liver fluke disease, vaccine development and drug resistance

Liver fluke infection (fasciolosis) is a major neglected zoonotic disease caused by Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica, flatworm parasites transmitted following ingestion of infective metacercariae encysted on aquatic plants. Liver flukes are a serious constraint on global livestock production, with >600M animals at risk of fasciolosis and economic losses of >US$3B p.a. (see Piedrafita et al, 2004). In Australia, economic losses are $60-90M p.a, with tens of millions of sheep/cattle exposed to the infection. Fasciola is also a significant food borne zoonosis recognised by the WHO and human cases of fasciolosis have been reported in Australia including work from my laboratory. Drug resistance is a serious threat to both animal and human therapy. There is no commercial vaccine for this disease and no new drugs for chemotherapy on the horizon. My lab is examining the protein antigens that are targets of acquired immune mechanisms expressed by sheep and cattle: these proteins are likely to represent excellent vaccine candidates. We are also examining the level of drug resistance in flukes infecting sheep and cattle in Australia with a view to understanding both the distribution of resistance and the molecular mechanisms underpinning resistance.

Current PhD project available:

Molecular basis  of triclabendazole resistance in liver fluke parasites. 

This project aims to improve our ability to control liver fluke infection in livestock through a better understanding of the underlying basis of treatment failure. The major aims of the project are to:

  • define changes in the protein profiles of F. hepatica populations resistant to triclabendazole;
  • define changes in the transcriptome profiles of F. hepatica populations resistant to triclabendazole
  • develop methods to identify the binding target of triclabendazole in flukes; 

Honours projects

I am seeking highly motivated students interested in applying molecular approaches to study parasites and infectious organisms. Training is offered in the techniques of proteomics, cell and molecular biology and tissue culture.

Project 1 Genetic diversity in drug resistant liver flukes recovered from cattle.

The student will perform a genetic survey of flukes recovered from different hosts and within a single host. Parasites will be sourced from animals in different regions in Victoria and NSW. The student will sequence mitochondrial DNA, as well as selected nuclear genes, to establish diversity. The student will learn techniques such as PCR, DNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis.

Recent graduates from my lab-where are they now?

  • 2010. Angela Muller, Honours student at CSU. Now with CSIRO, Adelaide
  • 2010. Kat Vallance, Honours student at CSU. Now applying for entrance to Veterinary Science
  • 2009. Janelle Wright. Research Scientist at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Adelaide.
  • 2007. Lisa Purcell, Institute of Parasitology, McGill. PhD Thesis: “Genetic and biochemical strategies to block the transmission cycle of the malaria parasite”. A postdoctoral fellow at Regeneron, New York. http://www.regeneron.com/
  • 2006. Rebecca Smith, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University. PhD Thesis: " Cloning and characterisation of pathogenesis factors of Fasciola hepatica using cDNA representational difference analysis and signal sequence trap approaches”. A freelance journalist.
  • 2005. Simone Beckham, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University. PhD Thesis: “ Characterisation of cathepsin proteases from Fasciola hepatica”. A postdoctoral fellow at Monash University.
  • 2005. Nick Kennedy, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University. PhD Thesis: “DNA vaccines for Fasciola hepatica”. A postdoctoral fellow at Monash University.
  • 2005: Kim Grubb, Institute of Parasitology, McGill. MSc Thesis: “Malaria vaccine antigens”. In the business sector in Montreal.
  • 2005: Cynthia Santamaria, Institute of Parasitology, McGill. MSc Thesis: “Merozoite surface proteins in malaria”. A research assistant at the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal.
  • 2004. Adam Rainczuk, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University. PhD Thesis: “Evaluation of expression library immunisation as a tool for malaria vaccine discovery”. Research Fellow at Prince Henry’s Institute for Medical Research, Melbourne.
  • 2004: Rya Boscariol, Institute of Parasitology, McGill. MSc Thesis: “Functional characterisation of Sheep CD4 and susceptibility to cleavage by Fasciola proteases”. Studying medicine at Queen’s University, Ontario.