Research project
Construction and exploration of modular goldnanoparticles for glycan-based immune-interventions of worm infections
Can new vaccines learn the immune system how to destroy worms?
- Funding
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NWO Veni 2014
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by flatworms of the genus Schistosoma that affects around 240 million people worldwide, especially in poor communities of tropical and sub-tropical areas. Current drug treatment is not able to prevent re-infection so a more efficient solution to control and eliminate schistosomiasis would be the design and development of an effective vaccine.
Fabrizio Chiodo aims to work on the development of vaccines against this and similar diseases by very precisely covering gold spheres with pieces of the parasites so that the immune system can be taught in a very controlled manner how to destroy the worms.