THE SULLIVAN LAB
"The more intelligent the question we ask of Mother Nature,
the more intelligent will be her reply."
-- Sir Charles Sherrington
WHAT DO WE DO?
We study the regulation of gene expression in a fascinating protozoan parasite
called Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasma, a relative of the malarial parasite,
causes congenital birth defects, as well as opportunistic infection in AIDS,
cancer chemotherapy, and organ transplant patients. There is also recent evidence suggesting
that this parasite is linked to neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia and behavior modification.
We hypothesize that the proteins controlling gene expression at epigenetic, transcriptional,
and translational levels may represent novel drug targets to fight Toxoplasma
and other infectious diseases.
Shown here are Toxoplasma parasites inside
human fibroblast cells
Follow the links below for more about...
Breaking news...
Now published in J Exp Med: The Plasmodium eukaryotic initiation factor-2alpha kinase IK2 controls the latency of sporozoites in the mosquito salivary glands.
Congratulations to graduate student Krista Stilger for passing her qualifying exam! (June 24, 2010)
Congratulations to graduate student Stacy Dixon - now Stacy Dixon, Ph.D. (June 17, 2010)
Our review "A decade of epigenetic research in Toxoplasma gondii" has been published in MBP
Krista Stilger awarded a CTSI predoctoral fellowship May, 2010
New publication: Vonlaufen N, Naguleswaran A, Coppens I, Sullivan WJ Jr. (2010) MYST-family lysine acetyltransferase facilitates ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase-mediated DNA damage response in Toxoplasma gondii. J Biol Chem. 285(15):11154, PMID: 20159970
Dr. Sullivan has a secondary appointment in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology (Aug, 2009)
On July 1, 2009, Dr. Sullivan was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.
Dr. Sullivan was made a member of the editorial board for the journal Eukaryotic Cell for 2009-2012.
WHERE ARE WE?
Indiana University School of Medicine
Dept of Pharmacology & Toxicology
IU Center of Environmental Health
635 Barnhill Drive, MS A-515
Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
317-278-9017 (lab)
Click here for more about Indianapolis
CONTACT: wjsulliv@iupui.edu Last update: July, 2010