Dyann Wirth

Dyann F. Wirth (born Dyann Lynn Fergus, January 31, 1951, Racine, Wisconsin) is an American immunologist. She is currently the Richard Pearson Strong Professor of Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[1][2]

Dyann Wirth
Wirth on a President's Malaria Initiative panel in 2016
Born
Dyann Lynn Fergus

January 31, 1951
Racine, Wisconsin
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma mater
Known forLeading malariologist
Scientific career
Institutions

Wirth is one of the world's leading malariologists, dealing with how the genus Plasmodium has evolved in terms of population biology, drug resistance, and antigenicity. The Wirth laboratory combines the expertise of the Harvard School of Public Health, the Broad Institute, and international collaborators for malaria research and training in public health.[3]

Education and career

Wirth received her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978.[4]

Research

Wirth's lab identified the cytochrome B gene of the avian malaria species Plasmodium gallinaceum in 1989, as genetic study of the parasite was in its early days.[5] In 1993 the labs of Wirth and Kamini Nirmala Mendis published the first successful use of the electroporation method to insert new DNA sequence into a malaria cell (also Plasmodium gallinaceum).[6]

Awards and honors

Wirth was awarded the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's Bailey K. Ashford Medal, given for distinguished work in tropical medicine, in 1995, and the Joseph Augustin LePrince Medal, for contributions to malariology, in 2015.[7] In 2016, she was elected as a fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.[8]

Selected publications
  • Synthesis and processing of the Sindbis virus structural proteins, 1978
  • Malaria : Natural Selection and New Medicine, 2010
  • Malaria : biology in the era of eradication, 2016

References
  1. "Dyann Wirth". Harvard University. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  2. "technologyreview.com". Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  3. "Professor Dyann Wirth, member of the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC)". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  4. "Dyann F. Wirth Academic Profile". Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  5. Aldritt, S. M.; Joseph, J. T.; Wirth, D. F. (1989-09-01). "Sequence identification of cytochrome b in Plasmodium gallinaceum". Molecular and Cellular Biology. 9 (9): 3614–3620. doi:10.1128/MCB.9.9.3614. ISSN 0270-7306. PMC 362421. PMID 2779560.
  6. Goonewardene, R; Daily, J; Kaslow, D; Sullivan, T J; Duffy, P; Carter, R; Mendis, K; Wirth, D (1993). "Transfection of the malaria parasite and expression of firefly luciferase". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 90 (11): 5234–5236. Bibcode:1993PNAS...90.5234G. doi:10.1073/pnas.90.11.5234. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 46690. PMID 8506371.
  7. "American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene - MEDALS" (PDF). Retrieved 22 Dec 2019.
  8. "Fellows of ASTMH (FASTMH)". Retrieved September 16, 2019.
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