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Dr Sam Wassmer

Ph.D.

Associate Professor
of Malaria Pathogenesis

Room
236a

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

Tel.
+44 (0) 20 7612 7888

Following the completion of his Ph.D. in Marseille, Sam Wassmer joined the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 2005, as a post-doctoral fellow. He was based at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme in Blantyre, and was awarded a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship in 2007 to investigate the influence of endothelial responsiveness to TNF on malaria severity and outcome. In parallel, he contributed to seminal work on the pivotal role of endothelial protein C receptor in fatal paediatric cerebral malaria, associating for the first time coagulation and inflammation with parasite sequestration in the brain.

In September 2010, Sam Wassmer was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the New York University School of Medicine, where he worked for over 5 years. During this time, he developed several research projects in Rourkela, India, as part of an NIH-funded International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research. His research focusses on the mechanisms underlying the pathological differences in cerebral malaria between African and Southeast Asian populations, the main affected groups. 

Sam Wassmer joined the School in May 2016 as an Associate Professor of Malaria Pathogenesis. He is currently the co-Director of the Malaria Centre.

Affiliations

Department of Infection Biology
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Centres

Malaria Centre

Teaching

Sam has successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching  at the LSHTM and has become an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). He has a wide range of teaching activities, which include:

  • Module organiser for Immunology of Clinical Disease (IDM3167),
  • Deputy Module Organiser for Malaria (IDM503),
  • inflammation, immunopathology of infectious diseases & malaria pathogenesis (IDM3120),
  • malaria blood stages & immunology (IDM3177),
  • innate immunity, inflammation and immunopathogenesis (IDM3134),
  • malaria pathophysiology (Distance Learning IDM103, IDM213, IDM503),
  • MSc exam marking.

He is the Chair of the Exam Board for the Immunology of Infectious Diseases MSc, participates in the annual field trip for the Medical Parasitology MSc, tutors students from both courses, and is involved in the Mentorship Scheme at LSHTM.

Research

Sam Wassmer's team investigates factors that lead to the development of cerebral malaria in patients infected with Plasmodium falciparum. This includes specific virulence factors of the parasite, as well as host-related determinants across cohorts from different age groups and geographic origins. Sam is also interested in the development of cost-effective and easily deployable diagnostic tools, specifically designed for malaria-endemic settings. 

Research Area
Drug discovery and development
Innate immunity
Parasites
Public health
Protozoa
Discipline
Genomics
Immunoepidemiology
Immunopathology
Cell biology
Medicine
Molecular biology
Parasitology
Pathology
Education
Vaccinology
Disease and Health Conditions
Infectious disease
Malaria
Neurological disease
Country
Gabon
Malawi
Region
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 variants induce cell swelling and disrupt the blood-brain barrier in cerebral malaria.
Adams Y; Olsen RW; Bengtsson A; Dalgaard N; Zdioruk M; Satpathi S; Behera PK; Sahu PK; Lawler SE; Qvortrup K
2021
Journal of Experimental Medicine
Clinical and epidemiological characterization of severe Plasmodium vivax malaria in Gujarat, India.
Anvikar AR; van Eijk AM; Shah A; Upadhyay KJ; Sullivan SA; Patel AJ; Joshi JM; Tyagi S; Singh R; Carlton JM
2020
Virulence
Plasmodium falciparum sexual parasites develop in human erythroblasts and affect erythropoiesis.
Neveu G; Richard C; Dupuy F; Behera P; Volpe F; Subramani PA; Marcel-Zerrougui B; Vallin P; Andrieu M; Minz AM
2020
Blood
CD8+ T cells and human cerebral malaria: a shifting episteme.
Rénia L; Grau GE; Wassmer SC
2020
The Journal of clinical investigation
Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Reveals Different Courses of Disease in Pediatric and Adult Cerebral Malaria.
Sahu PK; Hoffmann A; Majhi M; Pattnaik R; Patterson C; Mahanta KC; Mohanty AK; Mohanty RR; Joshi S; Mohanty A
2020
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Malaria inflammation by xanthine oxidase-produced reactive oxygen species.
Ty MC; Zuniga M; Götz A; Kayal S; Sahu PK; Mohanty A; Mohanty S; Wassmer SC; Rodriguez A
2019
EMBO Molecular Medicine
New Syndromes Identified by Neuroimaging during Cerebral Malaria.
Hoffmann A; Wassmer SC
2018
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cerebral Malaria Patients Reveals Distinct Pathogenetic Processes in Different Parts of the Brain.
Mohanty S; Benjamin LA; Majhi M; Panda P; Kampondeni S; Sahu PK; Mohanty A; Mahanta KC; Pattnaik R; Mohanty RR
2017
mSphere
Angiotensin receptors and β-catenin regulate brain endothelial integrity in malaria.
Gallego-Delgado J; Basu-Roy U; Ty M; Alique M; Fernandez-Arias C; Movila A; Gomes P; Weinstock A; Xu W; Edagha I
2016
The Journal of clinical investigation
Fatal Pediatric Cerebral Malaria Is Associated with Intravascular Monocytes and Platelets That Are Increased with HIV Coinfection.
Hochman SE; Madaline TF; Wassmer SC; Mbale E; Choi N; Seydel KB; Whitten RO; Varughese J; Grau GER; Kamiza S
2015
mBio
Pathogenesis of cerebral malaria: new diagnostic tools, biomarkers, and therapeutic approaches.
Sahu PK; Satpathi S; Behera PK; Mishra SK; Mohanty S; Wassmer SC
2015
Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology
Glycophorins, Blood Groups, and Protection from Severe Malaria.
Wassmer SC; Carlton JM
2015
Trends in parasitology
Investigating the Pathogenesis of Severe Malaria: A Multidisciplinary and Cross-Geographical Approach.
Wassmer SC; Taylor TE; Rathod PK; Mishra SK; Mohanty S; Arevalo-Herrera M; Duraisingh MT; Smith JD
2015
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
Loss of endothelial protein C receptors links coagulation and inflammation to parasite sequestration in cerebral malaria in African children.
Moxon CA; Wassmer SC; Milner DA; Chisala NV; Taylor TE; Seydel KB; Molyneux ME; Faragher B; Esmon CT; Downey C
2013
Blood
Platelets and microparticles in cerebral malaria: the unusual suspects
Wassmer SC; Combes V; Grau GER
2011
Drug Discovery Today: Disease Mechanisms
See more Publications