Thomas E. Wellems, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief, Malaria Genetics Section  

Dr. Wellems received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago. Following an internal medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, he joined NIAID's Division of Intramural Research. His work focuses largely on the disease processes and drug resistance of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite species responsible for the most deadly form of human malaria. Dr. Wellems is a frequent lecturer, consultant, and reviewer. He serves on a number of advisory committees for foundations and public-private partnerships, including the Medicines for Malaria Venture.

Description of Research Program

Research in the Malaria Genetics Section focuses on the determinants of drug resistance, immune evasion, and disease virulence in malaria. Major areas of investigation include:

• Mechanisms of antimalarial drug resistance and factors that affect clinical outcome after treatment
• Genetic elements that regulate the antigenic variation and immune evasion of Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites
• Molecular mechanisms of malaria parasite infectivity to humans and monkeys
• Basis of malaria protection conferred by human red cell polymorphisms, including hemoglobins C and S

In each of these areas we seek discoveries that improve knowledge of malaria and thereby support searches for new antimalarial chemotherapies, diagnostic tools, and vaccines. Research activities on the NIH campus are integrated with field studies in Africa and Southeast Asia. Inquiries about predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships as well as Ph.D. studentships in the NIH Graduate Partnership Program are welcome.

Research Group Members

Karen Hayton (khayton@niaid.nih.gov), Fatima Nawaz (nawazf@niaid.nih.gov), Aldiouma Guindo (aguindo@niaid.nih.gov), Anna Lui (alui@niaid.nih.gov), Janni Papakrivos (jpapakrivos@niaid.nih.gov), Rick Fairhurst (rfairhurst@niaid.nih.gov), Rushina Cholera (rcholera@mail.nih.gov), Thomas Wellems (twellems@niaid.nih.gov), Juliana Sa (jsa@niaid.nih.gov), Nathaniel Brittian (nbrittain@niaid.nih.gov)

Selected Recent Publications

To view a complete listing, visit PubMed.

Diallo DA, Doumbo OK, Plowe CV, Wellems TE, Emanuel EJ, Hurst SA (2005). Community permission for medical research in developing countries. Clin. Infect. Dis. 41: 255-259.

Fairhurst RM, Wellems TE (2005). Plasmodium species, Malaria. In Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases (Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, Eds.) 6th edition. Elsevier, Philadelphia, pp. 3121-3144.

Fairhurst RM, Baruch DI, Brittain NJ, Ostera GR, Wallach JS, Hoang HL, Hayton K, Guindo A, Makobongo MO, Schwartz OM, Tounkara A, Doumbo OK, Diallo DA, Fujioka H, Ho M, Wellems TE (2005). Abnormal PfEMP1 display on hemoglobin C erythrocytes may protect against malaria. Nature 435:1117-1121.

Fairhurst RM, Wellems TE (2006). Modulation of malaria virulence by determinants of Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein-1 display on P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes. Curr. Opin. Hematol. 13: 124-130.

Gannoun-Zaki L, Jost A, Mu J, Deitsch KW, Wellems TE (2005). A silenced Plasmodium falciparum var promoter can be activated in vivo through spontaneous deletion of a silencing element in the intron. Eukaryot. Cell 4:490-492.

Hayton K, Fairhurst RM, Naudé B, Su X, Wellems TE (2005). Drug-resistant falciparum malaria: mechanisms, consequences, and challenges. In: Frontiers in antibiotic resistance: a tribute to Stuart B. Levy (White DG, Alekshun MN, McCermott PF, Eds.) ASM Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 401-413.

Naudé B, Brzostowski JA, Kimmel AR, Wellems TE (2005). Dictyostelium discoideum expresses a malaria chloroquine resistance mechanism upon transfection with mutant, but not wild-type, Plasmodium falciparum transporter PfCRT. J. Biol. Chem. 280:25596-25603.

Papakrivos J, Wellems TE (2005). Designer transport of malaria proteins in erythrocytes. Blood 105: 3757-3758.

Sá JM, Nomura T, Neves J, Baird JK, Wellems TE, del Portillo HA (2005). Plasmodium vivax: allele variants of the mdr1 gene do not associate with chloroquine resistance among isolates from Brazil, Papua and monkey-adapted strains. Exp. Parasitol. 109:256-259.

Wang X, Mu J, Li G, Chen P, Guo X, Fu L, Chen L, Su X, Wellems TE (2005). Decreased prevalence of the Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter 76T marker associated with cessation of chloroquine use against P. falciparum malaria in Hainan, People's Republic of China. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 72:410-414.

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