Understanding snail biology creates new opportunities for helminth disease control, while improved diagnostics help identify risk factors. In this seminar, I will present research spanning both areas. We reveal new insights into snail hosts of schistosomiasis, showing that helminth infection alters the snail microbiome and that microbial communities may, in turn, influence parasite success. Through a multi-omic approach we uncovered previously unknown host–microbiome–parasite interactions.
I will also discuss our use of environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect snail hosts in endemic regions, including Northern Ireland and internationally. Focusing on diseases such as fascioliasis, we assessed multiple environmental matrices to detect snails and parasites, developing a ddPCR workflow for soil, herbage, and water samples. This work now extends to human foodborne diseases in Southeast Asia, targeting detection of snail and fish intermediate hosts. Our broader goal is to integrate a “One Biology” framework linking environment, host, microbe, and parasite to improve disease control.
Geoffrey Gobert is a Professor of Molecular Parasitology within the School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast. Before coming to the UK, he was a Senior Research Associate in QIMR Berghofer in Brisbane Australia.
He works to improving our understanding of host-parasite interactions with helminths of clinical and/or agricultural importance. His research includes interactions and impacts within the environmental. Topics of importance include those locally within Northern Ireland supporting agriculture, as well as internationally in Southeast Asia, North America and Africa. Organisms of particular interest include schistosomes, Fasciola, and Opisthorchis. Internationally projects are of clinical importance and embrace a “one health” approach. More recently he has adopted the theme of “one biology” in charactering diseases, organisms or micro-environments.
He is the Special Issues Editor for the journal Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology. He has been funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and currently holds research grants from the BBSRC-UK, including as Director for the soon-to-be launched HELMINTH ECO-HEALTH HUB UK.
www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofBiologicalSciences/Connect/AcademicStaff/ProfGeoffreyGobert