PhD; Professor
mary.m.stevenson@mcgill.ca

Research interests

Together with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, malaria is a major infectious disease. Two thirds of the global population is at risk for malaria with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for about 90% of the deaths. Morbidity due to severe complications of this disease is extremely high among young children and pregnant women in this area. There is currently no vaccine available and drugs and insecticides are losing their effectiveness as the parasite and mosquito vectors, respectively, develop resistance to these tools of control. The major focus of the work in my laboratory is elucidation of the mechanisms of protective immunity against blood-stage malaria. One of our aims is to identify the cells and cytokines responsible for initiating innate immunity and inducing adaptive immunity to intraerythrocytic Plasmodium parasites, the causative agents of malaria. For our studies, we use a murine model of malaria in resistant and susceptible inbred mice infected with the rodent parasite, P. chabaudi AS. This rodent parasite is considered to have many similarities to the major human malaria parasite P. falciparum. We have identified that dendritic cells, NK cells, macrophages, and CD4+ T helper cells play important roles in the cell-mediated and antibody-dependent innate and adaptive immune responses required to control blood parasitemia and to clear and resolve the infection. We have also identified that a network of cytokines, involving IFN-gamma, IL-12, TNF-alpha and GM-CSF, is critical for the development of protective immunity. Since anemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children and pregnant women with severe malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, we are also examining cytokine regulation of erythropoiesis using in vivo and in vitro approaches. In collaboration with Dr. Philippe Gros, we are also identifying the major genes and their functions involved in susceptibility to malaria using the approaches of whole genome scanning, positional cloning and the candidate gene approach as well as transcriptional profiling of target tissues using cDNA microarrays and identification of important cell phenotypes by flow cytometry. Information obtained from our studies is important for the development of an efficacious vaccine strategy against blood-stage P. falciparum infection.

Awards

International Travel Lectureship
Autralian Society of Parasitology
2003

Associate Editor
Journal of Immunology
2000-Present

New Initiatives in Malaria Research Award
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
1998-2002

Editorial Board
Infection and Immunity
1998-2000

Primary Reviewer
Journal of Immunology
1997-2000

Visiting Lecturer, University of Alberta
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research
1990

Outstanding Young Alumnae Award
Hood College
1985

Bourse de Chercheur-Boursier
Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec
1982-87

Scholarship
Medical Research Council of Canada
1982-87

Scholarship
MGH Research Institute
1981-82

Financial Assistance for IV International Congress of Immunology, Paris
Canadian Society for Immunology and International Union of Immunological Societies
1980

Fellowship
Cancer Research Society
1979-80

Departmental affiliation

Department of Medicine; Department of Physiology; Institute of Parasitology

Accepting students from

Division of Experimental Medicine; Institute of Parasitology