Tapan joined LSHTM in 2009. Major research areas are the protozoal infections Chagas disease and leishmaniasis.

Chagas disease remains an important parasitic infection in the Americas. The vectors for the protozoan agent Trypanosoma cruzi are triatomine bugs, which transmit the infective stage of the parasite in their faeces when taking a blood-meal. T. cruzi is classified into genetic lineages TcI-TcVI exhibiting a complex geographical distribution and a poorly understood relationship to clinical symptoms. My reseacrh is directed towards furthering understanding of the epidemiology of the different lineages in this neglected tropical disease.

The leishmaniases are a range of diseases caused by protozoan parasites of the widely distributed genus Leishmania. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by infection with Leishmania donovani complex, remains a major public health problem in endemic regions of South Asia, East Africa, and Brazil. Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia sandflies are vectors in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas, respectively. Canine VL is endemic in the Mediterranean region and emergent in parts of South America. My research is directed toward comparing and improving serological tests.

Recent publications listed here [with PubMed ID]. Earlier publications under ‘Publications’ tab.

Chagas disease:

Sanchez, Messenger, Bhattacharyya, Gilman, Mayta, Colanzi, Bozo, Verástegui, Miles, Bern (2022). Congenital Chagas disease in Santa Cruz department, Bolivia is dominated by Trypanosoma cruzi lineage V. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 116:80–84 [34134129]

Murphy, Cardinal, Bhattacharyya, Enriquez, Macchiaverna, Alvedro, Freilij, Martinez de Salazar, Molina, Mertens, Gilleman, Gürtler, Miles (2021). Assessing antibody decline after chemotherapy of early chronic Chagas disease patients. Parasit Vectors 14:543 [34670602]

Murphy, Rooney, Bhattacharyya, Triana-Chavez, Krueger, Haslam, O’Rourke, Pańczuk, Tsang, Bickford-Smith, Gilman, Tetteh, Drakeley, Smales, Miles (2020). Glycosylation of Trypanosoma cruzi TcI antigen reveals recognition by chagasic sera. Sci Reports 10:16395 [33009443]

Franco, Warhurst, Bhattacharyya, Au, Le, Giardini, Pascoalino, Torrecilhas, Romera, Madeira, Freitas-Junior, Chatelain, Miles, Moraes (2020). Novel structural CYP51 mutation in Trypanosoma cruzi associated with multidrug resistance to CYP51 inhibitors and reduced infectivity Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 13:107–120 [32688218]

McClean, Bhattacharyya, Mertens, Murphy, Gilleman, Gustin, Zeippen, Xavier, Jansen, Miles (2020). A lineage-specific rapid diagnostic test (Chagas Sero K-SeT) identifies Brazilian Trypanosoma cruzi II/V/VI reservoir hosts among diverse mammalian orders. PLoS ONE 15:e0227828 [31951634]

Murphy, Macchiaverna, Cardinal, Bhattacharyya, Mertens, Zeippen, Gustin, Gilleman, Gürtler, Miles (2019). Lineage-specific rapid diagnostic tests can resolve Trypanosoma cruzi TcII/V/VI ecological and epidemiological associations in the Argentine Chaco. Parasit Vectors 12:424 [31522683]

Leishmaniasis:

Simonson, Bhattacharyya, El-Safi, Miles (2022). Linear and conformational determinants of visceral leishmaniasis diagnostic antigens rK28 and rK39 Parasit Vectors 15:387 [36273150]

Fujisawa, Silcott-Niles, Simonson, Lamattina, Humeres, Bhattacharyya, Mertens, Thunissen, O’Rourke, Pańczuk, Whitworth, Salomón, Miles (2021). Emergent canine visceral leishmaniasis in Argentina: comparative diagnostics and relevance to proliferation of human disease. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 15:e0009552 [34280201]

Marlais, Bhattacharyya, Pearson, Gardner, Marhoon, Airs, Hayes, Falconar, Singh, Reed, El-Safi, Sundar, Miles (2020). Isolation and characterisation of Leishmania donovani protein antigens from urine of visceral leishmaniasis patients. PLoS ONE 15:e0238840 [32925980]

Franssen, Durrant, Stark, Moser, Downing, Imamura, Dujardin, Sanders, Mauricio, Miles, Schnur, Jaffe, Nasereddin, Schallig, Yeo, Bhattacharyya, Alam, Berriman, Wirth, Schönian, Cotton (2020). Global genome diversity of the Leishmania donovani complex. eLife 9:e51243 [32209228]

Collis, El-Safi, Atia, Bhattacharyya, Hammad, Den Boer, Le, Whitworth, Miles (2019). Epidemiological and molecular investigation of resurgent cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sudan. Int J Infect Dis 88:14-20 [31442631]

PhD thesis: https://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/2173663/