Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research

Thomas E. Wellems, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research
Chief, Malaria Genetics Section

Dr. Wellems received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He completed his internal medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1984 he joined NIAID's Division of Intramural Research. He has directed the Malaria Genetics Section since 1991 and has served as chief of the Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research since 2002. Dr. Wellems is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, is a past president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and has served on a number of advisory committees for foundations and public-private partnerships, including the Medicines for Malaria Venture.

For a biographical profile of Dr. Wellems, see Davis TH. Profile of Thomas E. Wellems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A. 2010 August 3;107(31):13567-9.

Description of Research Program

Investigations in the Malaria Genetics Section focus on the determinants of drug resistance, immune evasion, and disease virulence in malaria. Areas of study include the following:

• Antimalarial drug resistance and factors that affect clinical outcome after treatment
• Malaria protection conferred by human hemoglobinopathies and other red cell polymorphisms
• Antigenic variation by Plasmodium falciparum parasites
• Molecular mechanisms of malaria parasite infectivity

Research activities on the NIH campus are integrated with field studies in Africa and Southeast Asia. Inquiries about predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships as well as Ph.D. studentships in the NIH Graduate Partnership Program are welcome.

Research Group Members

Dr. Juliana Sá
Dr. Jason Chong
Dr. Fuyuki Tokumasu
Dr. Hans Ackerman
Ms. Anna Liu
Mr. Shivang Shah
Mr. Michael Han
Ms. Gloria Tavera
Ms. Sarah Kaslow
Ms. Justine Cummins-Oman

Selected Recent Publications

To view a complete listing, visit PubMed.

Sá JM, Twu O, Hayton K, Reyes S, Fay MP, Ringwald P, Wellems TE. Geographic patterns of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance distinguished by differential responses to amodiaquine and chloroquine. Proc Nat. Acad Sci USA. 2009 Nov 10;106(45):18883-9.

Hayton K, Gaur D, Liu A, Taahashi J, Henschen B, Singh S, Lambert L, Furuya T, Bouttenot R, Doll M, Nawaz F, Mu J, Jiang L, Miller LH, Wellems TE. Erythrocyte binding protein PfRH5 polymorphisms determine species-specific pathways of Plasmodium falciparum invasion. Cell Host Microbe. 2008 Jul 17;4(1):40-51.

Fairhurst RM, Baruch DI, Brittain NJ, Ostera GR, Wallach JS, Hoang HL, Hayton K, Guindo A, Makobongo MO, Schwartz OM, Tounkara A, Doumbo OK, Diallo DA, Fujioka H, Ho M, Wellems TE. Abnormal PfEMP1 display on hemoglobin C erythrocytes may protect against malaria. Nature. 2005 June 23;435:1117-1121.

Fidock DA, Nomura T, Talley AK, Cooper RA, Dzekunov SM, Ferdig MT, Ursos LM, Sidhu AB, Naudé B, Deitsch KW, Su X, Wootton JC, Roepe PD, Wellems TE. Mutations in the P. falciparum digestive vacuole transmembrane protein PfCRT and evidence for their role in chloroquine resistance. Mol Cell. 2000 Oct;6(4):861-71.

Su X, Heatwole VM, Wertheimer SP, Guinet F, Herrfeldt JA, Peterson DS, Ravetch JV, Wellems TE. The large diverse gene family var encodes proteins involved in cytoadherence and antigenic variation of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. Cell. 1995 Jul 14;82(1):89-100.

Wu Y, Sifri CD, Lei H, Su X, Wellems TE. Transfection of Plasmodium falciparum within human red blood cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1995 Feb 14;92(4):973-7.

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