Expert on parasitic diseases named to international panel

Dr. T.V. Rajan, a professor of immunology at the Health Center, has been invited by the World Health Organization to serve a four-year term on its expert advisory panel on parasitic diseases.

Rajan is an expert on the biology of human lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic disease that causes elephantiasis, a grotesque thickening and hardening of the skin. It is one of the leading causes of permanent and long-term disability in the world.

While studying the disease, Rajan was puzzled why mice used in his research could rid themselves of the filariasis-causing parasite and avoid long-term illness, while millions of people in certain areas of the world suffered chronically from the disease.

His hypothesis was that children born to women infected by the parasite during pregnancy were more likely to get the disease later in life.

“Instead of developing protective antibodies to the illness, the child’s immune system does not recognize the mosquito-born parasite as a threat, and tolerates its presence,” says Rajan.

That means the mother’s infectious status could help determine whether the children are more susceptible to the disease.

The World Health Organization estimates that about one billion people in 80 countries are at risk of filariasis, which occurs most frequently in India and Africa.

“This is a high point of my career,” says Rajan.

“I come from India, where about 50 percent of the cases occur. My grandmother had the disease. I worked on this disease in the hopes that I could play a role in global eradication efforts. Now I believe I will have the opportunity to do that.”