Laboratory of Bacteriology

Tirloni Research Group

The overall research objectives of the Tick-Pathogen Transmission Unit (TPTU) focus on the study of tick salivary gland physiology and tick feeding biology to understand how salivary proteins support blood feeding and facilitate transmission of tick-borne pathogens. A deeper understanding of tick feeding biology is needed to discover weak links that can be targeted for effective development of anti-tick and/or pathogen-blocking vaccines.

Photo of Tirloni Research Group Members

Back row (left to right): Pedro Albuquerque, Lucas Tirloni, Jan Kotal. Front row (left to right): Markus Berger, Sazzad Mahmood, Larissa Martins.

Credit: NIAID

Lucas Tirloni, Ph.D.

Tenure-track Investigator
Chief, Tick-Pathogen Transmission Unit

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Education:

Ph.D., 2015, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Dr. Tirloni was born and raised in Brazil. He received his Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology in 2015 from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He received his postdoctoral training at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (2015-2016), Texas A&M University (2016-2018), and NIAID (2018-2020). In 2020, Dr. Tirloni became a tenure-track investigator in the Laboratory of Bacteriology.

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Photo of Lucas Tirloni, Ph.D.

Pedro Machado Medeiros de Albuquerque, M.Sc. (He/Him/His)

Pre-doctoral Visiting Fellow

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Education:

M.Sc., Biotechnology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil

B.Sc., Biotechnology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil

Languages Spoken: Portuguese, Spanish

PhD candidate at the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Works on projects involving anti-tick vaccine development and the role of salivary proteins in parasite-host relationship.

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Portrait of Pedro Machado Medeiros de Albuquerque, M.Sc.

Markus Berger, Ph.D. (He/Him/His)

Research Fellow

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Education:

Ph.D., Cellular and Molecular Biology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

M.Sc., Cellular and Molecular Biology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Pharm.D., Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Languages Spoken: Portuguese

Research interest in proteases, protease inhibitors and biologically active peptides and their biochemical, pharmacological, and structural mechanism of action in healthy and disease states. Current research focused on how tick saliva modulates skin-derived proteases during wound healing, inflammation, and coagulation process and how tick salivary proteins impact on tick feeding and pathogen...

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Jan Kotál, Ph.D (He/Him/His)

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow

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Education:

Ph.D., Molecular and Cell Biology and Genetics, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic

M.Sc., Experimental Biology, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic

B.Sc., Biological Chemistry, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic and Johannes Kepler University, Australia

Languages Spoken: German, Czech

Dr. Kotál has expertise in identifying, producing of tick protease inhibitors (namely cystatin and serpin inhibitors) and testing them using biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology and animal models. Currently at NIAID he has been involved in detailed characterization of a tick salivary serpin and determination of its role in tick-host interaction, blocking blood coagulation and wound healing...

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Sazzad Mahmood, Ph.D. (He/Him/His)

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow

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Education:

Ph.D., University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic

M.Sc., University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom

B.Sc., University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Languages Spoken: Bengali

I am going to explore hard tick Ixodes scapularis salivary gland to dig into different cell types and their function. Here single cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq will be performed to profiling gene expression and chromatin accessibility with several differential factors. The research interest here is to investigate the contribution of secreted salivary components of different cell types in feeding and...

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Larissa Almeida Martins, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow

Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.

Education:

Ph.D., University of São Paulo, Brazil

M.Sc., University of São Paulo, Brazil

Pharm.D., United Metropolitan Colleges São Paulo, Brazil

Languages Spoken: Portuguese, Spanish

Dr. Martins is a postdoctoral fellow with over ten years of experience applying different technics of molecular biology, biochemistry, and cellular biology to study tick-host-pathogen interactions. Her research focuses on proteins that are key for successful blood-feeding and pathogens transmission by ticks since they represent putative targets for developing vaccines or new pharmaceuticals. She...

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Portrait of Larissa Almeida Martins, Ph.D.

Lucas Christian de Sousa-Paula, Ph.D. (He/Him/His)

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow

Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.

Education:

Ph.D., Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Brazil

M.Sc., Biological Sciences, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil

B.Sc., Biologist, Univeridade Estadual Vale do Acaraú (UVA), Brazil

Languages Spoken: Portuguese

I am studying the importance of tick saliva for blood feeding and pathogen transmission. Main research interests are arthropod vectors, vector-borne diseases, population genetics, bioinformatics, and next-generation sequencing.

Learn more about Lucas Christian de Sousa-Paula, Ph.D.

Former Research Group Members

Adela Chlastakova – Pre-doctoral visiting fellow (Ph.D. candidate at University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic). 

Paula Terraciano, Ph.D. – Guest Researcher (Researcher, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). 

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