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Dr Rob Moon

PhD

Associate Professor
of Molecular Parasitology

Room
496

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

Tel.
02079272743

Rob runs a research group at LSHTM using molecular biology and parasite genetics tools to study malaria parasites. Rob primarily works with the malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi cultured in human red blood cells, a parasite which infects macaques in SE Asia and is a common cause of malaria in people in this region.

Rob undertook his PhD in Molecular Parasitology at Imperial College London and undertook his postdoc working at the Francis Crick Institute (Formerly National Institute for Medical Research). During this time he has developed new tools and techniques to study rodent malaria parasites and two species of human malaria parasite (P. falciparum and P. knowlesi). His main focus during this work has been addressing mechanisms by which the parasites move into and invade host cells and tissues in both mosquito and human hosts. This has helped to determine the role of proteins involved in cell signalling, molecular motors and host cell recognition and binding. His full publication list is available on this Google Scholar Link.

Rob moved to the LSHTM in 2015 to establish a new group supported by a Medical Research Council Career Development Award.

Affiliations

Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases
Department of Infection Biology

Centres

Malaria Centre

Teaching

Rob supervises Masters students from the degree programme within LSHTM and currently supervises a PhD student through a Bloomsbury Research Studentship.

Research

Rob leads a research group focusing on malaria, with a particular interest in Plasmodium knowlesi, a zoonotic malaria parasites from South East Asia. Rob’s work focuses on:

i) Development and use of tools and techniques for experimental genetics in P. knowlesi

ii) Understanding how malaria parasites invade red blood cells and particularly how P. knowlesi is able to invade human red blood cells.

iii) Development of methods to use P. knowlesi as a surrogate to study aspects of P. vivax biology.

Robs work is funded by an MRC Career Development Award entitled “Dissecting the red blood cell invasion pathways of the malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi.”

P. knowlesi is a significant issue for Malaysia and now accounts for more than 80% of the locally acquired cases of malaria. Rob also collaborates closely with research labs in Malaysia after developing links during a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship.

Research Area
Parasites
Protozoa
Discipline
Cell biology
Molecular biology
Parasitology
Disease and Health Conditions
Malaria
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
Country
Malaysia
Region
East Asia & Pacific (all income levels)
South Asia

Selected Publications

Gliding motility of Plasmodium merozoites.
Yahata K; Hart MN; Davies H; Asada M; Wassmer SC; Templeton TJ; Treeck M; Moon RW; Kaneko O
2021
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Divergent roles for the RH5 complex components, CyRPA and RIPR in human-infective malaria parasites.
Knuepfer E; Wright KE; Kumar Prajapati S; Rawlinson TA; Mohring F; Koch M; Lyth OR; Howell SA; Villasis E; Snijders AP
2019
PLoS pathogens
Rapid and iterative genome editing in the malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi provides new tools for P. vivax research.
Mohring F; Hart MN; Rawlinson TA; Henrici R; Charleston JA; Diez Benavente E; Patel A; Hall J; Almond N; Campino S
2019
eLife
Structural basis for inhibition of Plasmodium vivax invasion by a broadly neutralizing vaccine-induced human antibody.
Rawlinson TA; Barber NM; Mohring F; Cho JS; Kosaisavee V; Gérard SF; Alanine DGW; Labbé GM; Elias SC; Silk SE
2019
Nature microbiology
Comparative Heterochromatin Profiling Reveals Conserved and Unique Epigenome Signatures Linked to Adaptation and Development of Malaria Parasites.
Fraschka SA; Filarsky M; Hoo R; Niederwieser I; Yam XY; Brancucci NMB; Mohring F; Mushunje AT; Huang X; Christensen PR
2018
Cell host & microbe
Normocyte-binding protein required for human erythrocyte invasion by the zoonotic malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi.
Moon RW; Sharaf H; Hastings CH; Ho YS; Nair MB; Rchiad Z; Knuepfer E; Ramaprasad A; Mohring F; Amir A
2016
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Adaptation of the genetically tractable malaria pathogen Plasmodium knowlesi to continuous culture in human erythrocytes.
Moon RW; Hall J; Rangkuti F; Ho YS; Almond N; Mitchell GH; Pain A; Holder AA; Blackman MJ
2012
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
See more Publications