Lab Members

Principal Investigator

Lamba Sangaré

B.Sc., Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Bamako. 2009
M.Sc., Molecular and Cellular Biology, Pierre and Marie Curie University. 2011
M.Sc., Genetics, Paris Diderot University. 2012
Ph.D., Parasitology, Lille 2 University. 2015
Postdoctoral research, University of California, Davis 2016-2021

losangare@tamu.edu

Graduate Student (PhD)

Koen Kleine

B.Sc. Biological Sciences, Wayne State University. 2022

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite capable of crossing biological barriers, such as the placenta. The location where and mechanism by which Toxoplasma crosses the placenta has not been identified or characterized. The goal of my research is to examine how Toxoplasma crosses the placenta, with the hypothesis that the parasite targets specific cell types using specific effectors.

koen.kleine@tamu.edu

Graduate Student (PhD)

Dawood "Abbas" Abbas

B.Sc in Biological Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 2016
M.Phil Parasitology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 2020

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite which uses leukocytes as vehicles to invade the
placental barrier. My goal is to understand how the parasite interacts with monocytes and/or
other leukocytes and the major effectors influencing the transmigration of Toxoplasma gondii infected – leukocytes across the placental barrier.

dawoodabbas91@tamu.edu

Graduate Student (PhD) - Visiting Scholar

Guilherme de Souza

B.Sc. in Biology, Federal University of Uberlândia. 2018
M.Sc. in Immunology and Parasitology, Federal University of Uberlândia. 2021

Congenital toxoplasmosis is characterized by the passage of Toxoplasma gondii from the mother to the fetus through the placenta during pregnancy. However, the mechanisms that the parasite uses to cross the placenta as well as which effectors are involved in its transmission are poorly understood. In this sense, the aim of my project is to evaluate the role of some effectors secreted by the parasite that could be involved in its transmission at the human maternal-fetal interface.

guilhermesouza@tamu.edu