Dr Simon Babayan
- Reader (Host-Parasite Interactions & Pathogenesis)
telephone:
0141 330 6632
email:
Simon.Babayan@glasgow.ac.uk
Graham Kerr Building - Rm307, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
Research interests
Google Scholar - Publications Profile
I am interested in the mechanisms that underlie protective immunity and disease: the phenotypes immune cells adopt to mitigate disease, and how to detect and quantify protective immune profiles in laboratory models, domesticated animals, and in natural populations.
To make progress in my overarching goal of improving medical interventions against infectious disease, I am following three intertwined lines of research:
- How do immune-mediated host-parasite interactions affect parasite fitness? (protective immunity vs. parasite immune evasion)
- How does the immune system integrate the myriad sources of natural variation to maintain health? (wild immunology)
- How to design safe and more effective vaccines? (nature-proof vaccines)
More specifically, I study how parasitic helminths are affected by host immune responses as a function of parasite immune evasion and immune protective efficacy; how protective immunity is affected by variation in host sex, nutrition, age, and coinfection; and for the past few years I have been developing anti-filarial vaccines that target parasite immune modulators and thus limit the ability of these worms to evade host immune responses.
To address these questions, I combine lab-based and field-based studies. The former allow the analysis of molecular and cellular responses to tightly controlled infections, diets and age structures, whereas the latter give insight into how such responses affect population-level dynamics such as morbidity/mortality rates and disease transmission.
This work therefore bridges a number of disciplines - mainly parasitology, immunology, ecology, and computational biology - and requires (attempting at least some) integration of immunity at the molecular, cellular, organismal, and population levels.
Research groups
Publications
2024
Dalal, N., Sáiz, M. J., Caporale, A. G., Baldini, F. , Babayan, S. A. and Adamo, P. (2024) Fishy forensics: FT-NIR and machine learning based authentication of Mediterranean anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus). Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 136, 106847. (doi: 10.1016/j.jfca.2024.106847)
Putman, R., Babayan, S. and Lesscher, H. (2024) Environmental determinants of chronic stress in fallow deer. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 70, 111. (doi: 10.1007/s10344-024-01863-7)
Pazmiño-Betancourth, M. , Casas Gómez-Uribarri, I., Mondragon-Shem, K., Babayan, S. A. , Baldini, F. and Haines, L. R. (2024) Advancing age grading techniques for Glossina morsitans morsitans, vectors of african trypanosomiasis, through mid-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning. Biology Methods and Protocols, (doi: 10.1093/biomethods/bpae058) (Early Online Publication)
Mshani, I. H. et al. (2024) Screening of malaria infections in human blood samples with varying parasite densities and anaemic conditions using AI-Powered mid-infrared spectroscopy. Malaria Journal, 23(1), 188. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-024-05011-z) (PMID:38880870) (PMCID:PMC11181574)
Mwanga, E. P. et al. (2024) Reagent-free detection of Plasmodium falciparum malaria infections in field-collected mosquitoes using mid-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning. Scientific Reports, 14, 12100. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-63082-z)
Mwanga, E. P., Siria, D. J., Mshani, I. H., Mwinyi, S. H., Abbas, S., Gonzalez Jimenez, M. , Wynne, K. , Baldini, F. , Babayan, S. A. and Okumu, F. O. (2024) Rapid classification of epidemiologically relevant age categories of the malaria vector, Anopheles funestus. Parasites and Vectors, 17, 143. (doi: 10.1186/s13071-024-06209-5) (PMID:38500231)
Mwanga, E. P. et al. (2024) Rapid assessment of the blood-feeding histories of wild-caught malaria mosquitoes using mid-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning. Malaria Journal, 23(1), 86. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-024-04915-0) (PMID:38532415) (PMCID:PMC10964711)
Dunbar, D., Babayan, S. A. , Krumrie, S. , Haining, H., Hosie, M. J. and Weir, W. (2024) Assessing the feasibility of applying machine learning to diagnosing non-effusive feline infectious peritonitis. Scientific Reports, 14, 2517. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-52577-4) (PMID:38291072)
2023
Mshani, I. H. et al. (2023) Key considerations, target product profiles, and research gaps in the application of infrared spectroscopy and artificial intelligence for malaria surveillance and diagnosis. Malaria Journal, 22(1), 346. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-023-04780-3) (PMID:37950315) (PMCID:PMC10638832)
Mwanga, E. P., Siria, D. J., Mitton, J., Mshani, I. H., González-Jiménez, M. , Selvarajah, P., Wynne, K. , Baldini, F. , Okumu, F. O. and Babayan, S. A. (2023) Using transfer learning and dimensionality reduction techniques to improve generalisability of machine-learning predictions of mosquito ages from mid-infrared spectra. BMC Bioinformatics, 24, 11. (doi: 10.1186/s12859-022-05128-5) (PMID:36624386) (PMCID:PMC9830685)
2022
Liu, W., McNeilly, T. M., Mitchell, M., Burgess, S. T.G., Nisbet, A. J., Matthews, J. B. and Babayan, S. A. (2022) Vaccine-induced time- and age-dependent mucosal immunity to gastrointestinal parasite infection. npj Vaccines, 7, 78. (doi: 10.1038/s41541-022-00501-0) (PMID:35798788) (PMCID:PMC9262902)
Siria, D. J. et al. (2022) Rapid age-grading and species identification of natural mosquitoes for malaria surveillance. Nature Communications, 13, 1501. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28980-8) (PMID:35314683) (PMCID:PMC8938457)
2021
Francoeur, R., Atuhaire, A., Arinaitwe, M., Adriko, M., Ajambo, D., Nankasi, A., Babayan, S. A. and Lamberton, P. H.L. (2021) ABO blood groups do not predict Schistosoma mansoni infection profiles in highly endemic villages of Uganda. Microorganisms, 9(12), 2448. (doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9122448) (PMID:34946048) (PMCID:PMC8705964)
Mollentze, N. , Babayan, S. A. and Streicker, D. G. (2021) Identifying and prioritizing potential human-infecting viruses from their genome sequences. PLoS Biology, 19(9), e3001390. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001390) (PMID:34582436) (PMCID:PMC8478193)
Sweeny, A. R., Clerc, M., Pontifes, P. A., Venkatesan, S., Babayan, S. A. and Pederson, A. B. (2021) Supplemented nutrition decreases helminth burden and increases drug efficacy in a natural host-helminth system. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 288(1943), 20202722. (doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2722) (PMID:33468010) (PMCID:PMC7893286)
2020
Crowe, J. et al. (2020) The parasitic worm product ES-62 promotes health- and life-span in a high calorie diet-accelerated mouse model of ageing. PLoS Pathogens, 16(3), e1008391. (doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008391) (PMID:32163524) (PMCID:PMC7108737)
2019
Quintana, J. F. et al. (2019) Comparative analysis of small RNAs released by the filarial nematode Litomosoides sigmodontis in vitro and in vivo. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 13(11), e0007811. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007811) (PMID:31770367) (PMCID:PMC6903752)
Rynkiewicz, E. C., Clerc, M., Babayan, S. A. and Pedersen, A. B. (2019) Variation in local and systemic pro-inflammatory immune markers of wild wood mice after anthelminthic treatment. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 59(5), pp. 1190-1202. (doi: 10.1093/icb/icz136) (PMID:31368489) (PMCID:PMC6863754)
Mwanga, E. P. et al. (2019) Detection of malaria parasites in dried human blood spots using mid-infrared spectroscopy and logistic regression analysis. Malaria Journal, 18, 341. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-019-2982-9) (PMID:31590669) (PMCID:PMC6781347)
González Jiménez, M. et al. (2019) Prediction of mosquito species and population age structure using mid-infrared spectroscopy and supervised machine learning. Wellcome Open Research, 4, 76. (doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15201.3) (PMID:31544155) (PMCID:PMC6753605)
Hodgkinson, J. E. et al. (2019) Refugia and anthelmintic resistance: concepts and challenges. International Journal for Parasitology, 10, pp. 51-57. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2019.05.001) (PMID:31125837) (PMCID:PMC6531808)
Kilarski, W. W., Martin, C., Pisano, M., Bain, O., Babayan, S. A. and Swartz, M. A. (2019) Inherent biomechanical traits enable infective filariae to disseminate through collecting lymphatic vessels. Nature Communications, 10, 2895. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10675-2) (PMID:31263185) (PMCID:PMC6603047)
Clerc, M., Fenton, A., Babayan, S. A. and Pedersen, A. B. (2019) Parasitic nematodes simultaneously suppress and benefit from coccidian coinfection in their natural mouse host. Parasitology, 146(8), pp. 1096-1106. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182019000192) (PMID:30915927) (PMCID:PMC6603796)
Mwanga, E. P. et al. (2019) Using mid-infrared spectroscopy and supervised machine-learning to identify vertebrate blood meals in the malaria vector, Anopheles arabiensis. Malaria Journal, 18, 187. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-019-2822-y) (PMID:31146762) (PMCID:PMC6543689)
Clerc, M., Babayan, S. A. , Fenton, A. and Pedersen, A. B. (2019) Age affects antibody levels and anthelmintic treatment efficacy in a wild rodent. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 8, pp. 240-247. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.03.004) (PMID:30923672) (PMCID:PMC6423487)
International Helminth Genomes Consortium, et al. (2019) Comparative genomics of the major parasitic worms. Nature Genetics, 51(1), pp. 163-174. (doi: 10.1038/s41588-018-0262-1) (PMID:30397333) (PMCID:PMC6349046)
2018
Babayan, S. A. , Orton, R. J. and Streicker, D. G. (2018) Predicting reservoir hosts and arthropod vectors from evolutionary signatures in RNA virus genomes. Science, 362(6414), pp. 577-580. (doi: 10.1126/science.aap9072) (PMID:30385576) (PMCID:PMC6536379)
Fulton, A., Babayan, S.A. and Taylor, M.D. (2018) Use of the Litomosoides sigmodontis infection model of filariasis to study type 2 immunity. In: Reinhardt, R. L. (ed.) Type 2 Immunity: Methods and Protocols. Series: Methods in molecular biology (1799). Humana Press: New York, NY, pp. 11-26. ISBN 9781493978953 (doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7896-0_2)
Strandin, T., Babayan, S. A. and Forbes, K. M. (2018) Reviewing the effects of food provisioning on wildlife immunity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1745), 20170088. (doi: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0088) (PMID:29531143) (PMCID:PMC5882994)
Babayan, S. A. , Liu, W., Hamilton, G., Kilbride, E., Rynkiewicz, E. C., Clerc, M. and Pedersen, A. B. (2018) The immune and non-immune pathways that drive chronic gastrointestinal helminth burdens in the wild. Frontiers in Immunology, 9, 56. (doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00056)
Lustigman, S., Makepeace, B. L., Klei, T. R., Babayan, S. A. , Hotez, P., Abraham, D. and Bottazzi, M. E. (2018) Onchocerca volvulus: the road from basic biology to a vaccine. Trends in Parasitology, 34(1), pp. 64-79. (doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2017.08.011) (PMID:28958602) (PMCID:PMC5748257)
Babayan, S. A. , Sinclair, A., Duprez, J. S. and Selman, C. (2018) Chronic helminth infection burden differentially affects haematopoietic cell development while ageing selectively impairs adaptive responses to infection. Scientific Reports, 8, 3802. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22083-5) (PMID:29491449) (PMCID:PMC5830876)
2017
Capilla-Lasheras, P. , Dominoni, D. M. , Babayan, S. A. , O'Shaughnessy, P. J. , Mladenova, M., Woodford, L., Pollock, C. J., Barr, T., Baldini, F. and Helm, B. (2017) Elevated immune gene expression is associated with poor reproductive success of urban blue tits. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 5, 64. (doi: 10.3389/fevo.2017.00064)
Quintana, J.F. , Babayan, S.A. and Buck, A.H. (2017) Small RNAs and extracellular vesicles in filarial nematodes: from nematode development to diagnostics. Parasite Immunology, 39(2), e12395. (doi: 10.1111/pim.12395) (PMID:27748953)
2015
Makepeace, B. L., Babayan, S. A. , Lustigman, S. and Taylor, D. W. (2015) The case for vaccine development in the strategy to eradicate river blindness (onchocerciasis) from Africa. Expert Review of Vaccines, 14(9), pp. 1163-1165. (doi: 10.1586/14760584.2015.1059281) (PMID:26091691)
Quintana, J. F. et al. (2015) Extracellular onchocerca-derived small RNAs in host nodules and blood. Parasites and Vectors, 8, 58. (doi: 10.1186/s13071-015-0656-1) (PMID:25623184) (PMCID:4316651)
2014
Buck, A. H. et al. (2014) Exosomes secreted by nematode parasites transfer small RNAs to mammalian cells and modulate innate immunity. Nature Communications, 5, 5488. (doi: 10.1038/ncomms6488) (PMID:25421927) (PMCID:PMC4263141)
Armstrong, S. D. et al. (2014) Comparative analysis of the secretome from a model filarial nematode (Litomosoides sigmodontis) reveals maximal diversity in gravid female parasites. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, 13(10), pp. 2527-2544. (doi: 10.1074/mcp.M114.038539)
Hewitson, J. P., Rückerl, D., Harcus, Y., Murray, J., Webb, L. M., Babayan, S. A. , Allen, J. E., Kurniawan, A. and Maizels, R. M. (2014) The secreted triose phosphate isomerase of Brugia malayi is required to sustain microfilaria production in vivo. PLoS Pathogens, 10(2), e1003930. (doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003930)
2013
Comandatore, F. et al. (2013) Phylogenomics and analysis of shared genes suggest a single transition to mutualism in Wolbachia of nematodes. Genome Biology and Evolution, 5(9), pp. 1668-1674. (doi: 10.1093/gbe/evt125)
2012
Babayan, S.A. , Allen, J.E. and Taylor, D.W. (2012) Future prospects and challenges of vaccines against filariasis. Parasite Immunology, 34(5), pp. 243-253. (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3024.2011.01350.x)
Little, T.J., Allen, J.E., Babayan, S.A. , Matthews, K.R. and Colegrave, N. (2012) Harnessing evolutionary biology to combat infectious disease. Nature Medicine, 18(2), pp. 217-220. (doi: 10.1038/nm.2572)
Babayan, S.A. , Luo, H., Gray, N., Taylor, D.W. and Allen, J.E. (2012) Deletion of parasite immune modulatory sequences combined with immune activating signals enhances vaccine mediated protection against filarial nematodes. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 6(12), e1968. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001968) (PMID:23301106) (PMCID:PMC3531514)
Babayan, S.A. and Schneider, D.S. (2012) Immunity in society: diverse solutions to common problems. PLoS Biology, 10(4), e1001297. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001297)
2011
Babayan, S.A. et al. (2011) Wild immunology: converging on the real world. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1236(1), pp. 17-29. (doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06251.x)
Coltherd, J.C., Babayan, S.A. , Bunger, L., Kyriazakis, I., Allen, J.E. and Houdijk, J.G.M. (2011) Interactive effects of protein nutrition, genetic growth potential and heligmosomoides bakeri infection pressure on resilience and resistance in mice. Parasitology, 138(10), pp. 1305-1315. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182011000990)
Pedersen, A.B. and Babayan, S.A. (2011) Wild immunology. Molecular Ecology, 20(5), pp. 872-880. (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04938.x)
2010
Babayan, S.A. , Read, A.F., Lawrence, R.A., Bain, O. and Allen, J.E. (2010) Filarial parasites develop faster and reproduce earlier in response to host immune effectors that determine filarial life expectancy. PLoS Biology, 8(10), e1000525. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000525)
2009
Coltherd, J.C., Babayan, S. , Bünger, L., Kyriazakis, I., Allen, J.E. and Houdijk, J.G.M. (2009) Immune responses to macroparasites are sensitive to the interaction between genetic growth potential and protein nutrition in mice. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 68(OCE3), E101. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665109990577)
2008
Attout, T., Martin, C., Babayan, S.A. , Kozek, W.J., Bazzocchi, C., Oudet, F., Gallagher, I.J., Specht, S. and Bain, O. (2008) Pleural cellular reaction to the filarial infection litomosoides sigmodontis is determined by the moulting process, the worm alteration, and the host strain. Parasitology International, 57(2), pp. 201-211. (doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2008.01.001)
Houston, K.M., Babayan, S. , Allen, J.E. and Harnett, W. (2008) Does litomosoides sigmodontis synthesize dimethylethanolamine from choline? Parasitology, 135(1), pp. 55-61. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182007003642) (PMID:17892618)
2007
Taylor, M. D., Harris, A., Babayan, S. A. , Bain, O., Culshaw, A., Allen, J. E. and Maizels, R. M. (2007) CTLA-4 and CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells inhibit protective immunity to filarial parasites in vivo. Journal of Immunology, 179(7), pp. 4626-4634. (doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.179.7.4626) (PMID:17878360)
2006
Babayan, S.A. , Attout, T., Harris, A., Taylor, M.D., Legoff, L., Vuong, P.N., Renia, L., Allen, J.E. and Bain, O. (2006) Vaccination against filarial nematodes with irradiated larvae provides long-term protection against the third larval stage but not against subsequent life cycle stages. International Journal for Parasitology, 36(8), pp. 903-914. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2006.04.013)
2005
Babayan, S. , Attout, T., Specht, S., Hoerauf, A., Snounou, G., Rénia, L., Korenaga, M., Bain, O. and Martin, C. (2005) Increased early local immune responses and altered worm development in high-dose infections of mice susceptible to the filaria litomosoides sigmodontis. Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 194(3), pp. 151-162. (doi: 10.1007/s00430-004-0226-1)
Attout, T., Babayan, S. , Hoerauf, A., Taylor, D.W., Kozek, W.J., Martin, C. and Bain, O. (2005) Blood-feeding in the young adult filarial worms litomosoides sigmodontis. Parasitology, 130(4), pp. 421-428. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182004006651) (PMID:15830816)
Babayan, S.A. , Attout, T., Vuong, P.N., Le Goff, L., Gantier, J. and Bain, O. (2005) The subcutaneous movements of filarial infective larvae are impaired in vaccinated hosts in comparison to primary infected hosts. Filaria Journal, 4(3), (doi: 10.1186/1475-2883-4-3)
2004
Bain, O., Attout, T., Babayan, S. , Kozek, W., Martin, C. and MasComa, S. (2004) Biology of Filariae in the Vertebrate Host: Litomosoides sigmodontis Casts Light on Several "Grey Areas". In: Multidisciplinarity for Parasites, Vectors and Parasitic Diseases: IX European Multicolloquium of Parasitology, Valencia, Spain, 18-23 Jul 2004, pp. 205-209. ISBN 9788875871161
2003
Babayan, S. , Ungeheuer, M., Martin, C., Attout, T., Belnoue, E., Snounou, G., Rénia, L., Korenaga, M. and Bain, O. (2003) Resistance and susceptibility to filarial infection with litomosoides sigmodontis are associated with early differences in parasite development and in localized immune reactions. Infection and Immunity, 71(12), pp. 6820-6829. (doi: 10.1128/IAI.71.12.6820-6829.2003)
Bain, O., Guerrero, R., Rodriguez, B., Babayan, S. and Jouvenet, N. (2003) Examination of type material of two species of litomosoides (filarioidea: onchocercidae), parasites from bats; taxonomic consequences. Parasite, 10(3), pp. 211-218. (doi: 10.1051/parasite/2003103211) (PMID:14535160)
Bain, O. and Babayan, S. (2003) Behaviour of filariae: morphological and anatomical signatures of their life style within the arthropod and vertebrate hosts. Filaria Journal, 2(16), (doi: 10.1186/1475-2883-2-16)
2002
Bain, O., Babayan, S. , Gomes, J., Rojas, G. and Guerrero, R. (2002) First account on the larval biology of a litomosoides filaria, from a bat. Parassitologia, 44(1-2), pp. 89-92. (PMID:12404814)
2001
Martin, C., Saeftel, M., Vuong, P.N., Babayan, S. , Fischer, K., Bain, O. and Hoerauf, A. (2001) B-cell deficiency suppresses vaccine-induced protection against murine filariasis but does not increase the recovery rate for primary infection. Infection and Immunity, 69(11), pp. 7067-7073. (doi: 10.1128/IAI.69.11.7067-7073.2001)
Articles
Dalal, N., Sáiz, M. J., Caporale, A. G., Baldini, F. , Babayan, S. A. and Adamo, P. (2024) Fishy forensics: FT-NIR and machine learning based authentication of Mediterranean anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus). Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 136, 106847. (doi: 10.1016/j.jfca.2024.106847)
Putman, R., Babayan, S. and Lesscher, H. (2024) Environmental determinants of chronic stress in fallow deer. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 70, 111. (doi: 10.1007/s10344-024-01863-7)
Pazmiño-Betancourth, M. , Casas Gómez-Uribarri, I., Mondragon-Shem, K., Babayan, S. A. , Baldini, F. and Haines, L. R. (2024) Advancing age grading techniques for Glossina morsitans morsitans, vectors of african trypanosomiasis, through mid-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning. Biology Methods and Protocols, (doi: 10.1093/biomethods/bpae058) (Early Online Publication)
Mshani, I. H. et al. (2024) Screening of malaria infections in human blood samples with varying parasite densities and anaemic conditions using AI-Powered mid-infrared spectroscopy. Malaria Journal, 23(1), 188. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-024-05011-z) (PMID:38880870) (PMCID:PMC11181574)
Mwanga, E. P. et al. (2024) Reagent-free detection of Plasmodium falciparum malaria infections in field-collected mosquitoes using mid-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning. Scientific Reports, 14, 12100. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-63082-z)
Mwanga, E. P., Siria, D. J., Mshani, I. H., Mwinyi, S. H., Abbas, S., Gonzalez Jimenez, M. , Wynne, K. , Baldini, F. , Babayan, S. A. and Okumu, F. O. (2024) Rapid classification of epidemiologically relevant age categories of the malaria vector, Anopheles funestus. Parasites and Vectors, 17, 143. (doi: 10.1186/s13071-024-06209-5) (PMID:38500231)
Mwanga, E. P. et al. (2024) Rapid assessment of the blood-feeding histories of wild-caught malaria mosquitoes using mid-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning. Malaria Journal, 23(1), 86. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-024-04915-0) (PMID:38532415) (PMCID:PMC10964711)
Dunbar, D., Babayan, S. A. , Krumrie, S. , Haining, H., Hosie, M. J. and Weir, W. (2024) Assessing the feasibility of applying machine learning to diagnosing non-effusive feline infectious peritonitis. Scientific Reports, 14, 2517. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-52577-4) (PMID:38291072)
Mshani, I. H. et al. (2023) Key considerations, target product profiles, and research gaps in the application of infrared spectroscopy and artificial intelligence for malaria surveillance and diagnosis. Malaria Journal, 22(1), 346. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-023-04780-3) (PMID:37950315) (PMCID:PMC10638832)
Mwanga, E. P., Siria, D. J., Mitton, J., Mshani, I. H., González-Jiménez, M. , Selvarajah, P., Wynne, K. , Baldini, F. , Okumu, F. O. and Babayan, S. A. (2023) Using transfer learning and dimensionality reduction techniques to improve generalisability of machine-learning predictions of mosquito ages from mid-infrared spectra. BMC Bioinformatics, 24, 11. (doi: 10.1186/s12859-022-05128-5) (PMID:36624386) (PMCID:PMC9830685)
Liu, W., McNeilly, T. M., Mitchell, M., Burgess, S. T.G., Nisbet, A. J., Matthews, J. B. and Babayan, S. A. (2022) Vaccine-induced time- and age-dependent mucosal immunity to gastrointestinal parasite infection. npj Vaccines, 7, 78. (doi: 10.1038/s41541-022-00501-0) (PMID:35798788) (PMCID:PMC9262902)
Siria, D. J. et al. (2022) Rapid age-grading and species identification of natural mosquitoes for malaria surveillance. Nature Communications, 13, 1501. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28980-8) (PMID:35314683) (PMCID:PMC8938457)
Francoeur, R., Atuhaire, A., Arinaitwe, M., Adriko, M., Ajambo, D., Nankasi, A., Babayan, S. A. and Lamberton, P. H.L. (2021) ABO blood groups do not predict Schistosoma mansoni infection profiles in highly endemic villages of Uganda. Microorganisms, 9(12), 2448. (doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9122448) (PMID:34946048) (PMCID:PMC8705964)
Mollentze, N. , Babayan, S. A. and Streicker, D. G. (2021) Identifying and prioritizing potential human-infecting viruses from their genome sequences. PLoS Biology, 19(9), e3001390. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001390) (PMID:34582436) (PMCID:PMC8478193)
Sweeny, A. R., Clerc, M., Pontifes, P. A., Venkatesan, S., Babayan, S. A. and Pederson, A. B. (2021) Supplemented nutrition decreases helminth burden and increases drug efficacy in a natural host-helminth system. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 288(1943), 20202722. (doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2722) (PMID:33468010) (PMCID:PMC7893286)
Crowe, J. et al. (2020) The parasitic worm product ES-62 promotes health- and life-span in a high calorie diet-accelerated mouse model of ageing. PLoS Pathogens, 16(3), e1008391. (doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008391) (PMID:32163524) (PMCID:PMC7108737)
Quintana, J. F. et al. (2019) Comparative analysis of small RNAs released by the filarial nematode Litomosoides sigmodontis in vitro and in vivo. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 13(11), e0007811. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007811) (PMID:31770367) (PMCID:PMC6903752)
Rynkiewicz, E. C., Clerc, M., Babayan, S. A. and Pedersen, A. B. (2019) Variation in local and systemic pro-inflammatory immune markers of wild wood mice after anthelminthic treatment. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 59(5), pp. 1190-1202. (doi: 10.1093/icb/icz136) (PMID:31368489) (PMCID:PMC6863754)
Mwanga, E. P. et al. (2019) Detection of malaria parasites in dried human blood spots using mid-infrared spectroscopy and logistic regression analysis. Malaria Journal, 18, 341. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-019-2982-9) (PMID:31590669) (PMCID:PMC6781347)
González Jiménez, M. et al. (2019) Prediction of mosquito species and population age structure using mid-infrared spectroscopy and supervised machine learning. Wellcome Open Research, 4, 76. (doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15201.3) (PMID:31544155) (PMCID:PMC6753605)
Hodgkinson, J. E. et al. (2019) Refugia and anthelmintic resistance: concepts and challenges. International Journal for Parasitology, 10, pp. 51-57. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2019.05.001) (PMID:31125837) (PMCID:PMC6531808)
Kilarski, W. W., Martin, C., Pisano, M., Bain, O., Babayan, S. A. and Swartz, M. A. (2019) Inherent biomechanical traits enable infective filariae to disseminate through collecting lymphatic vessels. Nature Communications, 10, 2895. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10675-2) (PMID:31263185) (PMCID:PMC6603047)
Clerc, M., Fenton, A., Babayan, S. A. and Pedersen, A. B. (2019) Parasitic nematodes simultaneously suppress and benefit from coccidian coinfection in their natural mouse host. Parasitology, 146(8), pp. 1096-1106. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182019000192) (PMID:30915927) (PMCID:PMC6603796)
Mwanga, E. P. et al. (2019) Using mid-infrared spectroscopy and supervised machine-learning to identify vertebrate blood meals in the malaria vector, Anopheles arabiensis. Malaria Journal, 18, 187. (doi: 10.1186/s12936-019-2822-y) (PMID:31146762) (PMCID:PMC6543689)
Clerc, M., Babayan, S. A. , Fenton, A. and Pedersen, A. B. (2019) Age affects antibody levels and anthelmintic treatment efficacy in a wild rodent. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 8, pp. 240-247. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.03.004) (PMID:30923672) (PMCID:PMC6423487)
International Helminth Genomes Consortium, et al. (2019) Comparative genomics of the major parasitic worms. Nature Genetics, 51(1), pp. 163-174. (doi: 10.1038/s41588-018-0262-1) (PMID:30397333) (PMCID:PMC6349046)
Babayan, S. A. , Orton, R. J. and Streicker, D. G. (2018) Predicting reservoir hosts and arthropod vectors from evolutionary signatures in RNA virus genomes. Science, 362(6414), pp. 577-580. (doi: 10.1126/science.aap9072) (PMID:30385576) (PMCID:PMC6536379)
Strandin, T., Babayan, S. A. and Forbes, K. M. (2018) Reviewing the effects of food provisioning on wildlife immunity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1745), 20170088. (doi: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0088) (PMID:29531143) (PMCID:PMC5882994)
Babayan, S. A. , Liu, W., Hamilton, G., Kilbride, E., Rynkiewicz, E. C., Clerc, M. and Pedersen, A. B. (2018) The immune and non-immune pathways that drive chronic gastrointestinal helminth burdens in the wild. Frontiers in Immunology, 9, 56. (doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00056)
Lustigman, S., Makepeace, B. L., Klei, T. R., Babayan, S. A. , Hotez, P., Abraham, D. and Bottazzi, M. E. (2018) Onchocerca volvulus: the road from basic biology to a vaccine. Trends in Parasitology, 34(1), pp. 64-79. (doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2017.08.011) (PMID:28958602) (PMCID:PMC5748257)
Babayan, S. A. , Sinclair, A., Duprez, J. S. and Selman, C. (2018) Chronic helminth infection burden differentially affects haematopoietic cell development while ageing selectively impairs adaptive responses to infection. Scientific Reports, 8, 3802. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22083-5) (PMID:29491449) (PMCID:PMC5830876)
Capilla-Lasheras, P. , Dominoni, D. M. , Babayan, S. A. , O'Shaughnessy, P. J. , Mladenova, M., Woodford, L., Pollock, C. J., Barr, T., Baldini, F. and Helm, B. (2017) Elevated immune gene expression is associated with poor reproductive success of urban blue tits. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 5, 64. (doi: 10.3389/fevo.2017.00064)
Quintana, J.F. , Babayan, S.A. and Buck, A.H. (2017) Small RNAs and extracellular vesicles in filarial nematodes: from nematode development to diagnostics. Parasite Immunology, 39(2), e12395. (doi: 10.1111/pim.12395) (PMID:27748953)
Makepeace, B. L., Babayan, S. A. , Lustigman, S. and Taylor, D. W. (2015) The case for vaccine development in the strategy to eradicate river blindness (onchocerciasis) from Africa. Expert Review of Vaccines, 14(9), pp. 1163-1165. (doi: 10.1586/14760584.2015.1059281) (PMID:26091691)
Quintana, J. F. et al. (2015) Extracellular onchocerca-derived small RNAs in host nodules and blood. Parasites and Vectors, 8, 58. (doi: 10.1186/s13071-015-0656-1) (PMID:25623184) (PMCID:4316651)
Buck, A. H. et al. (2014) Exosomes secreted by nematode parasites transfer small RNAs to mammalian cells and modulate innate immunity. Nature Communications, 5, 5488. (doi: 10.1038/ncomms6488) (PMID:25421927) (PMCID:PMC4263141)
Armstrong, S. D. et al. (2014) Comparative analysis of the secretome from a model filarial nematode (Litomosoides sigmodontis) reveals maximal diversity in gravid female parasites. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, 13(10), pp. 2527-2544. (doi: 10.1074/mcp.M114.038539)
Hewitson, J. P., Rückerl, D., Harcus, Y., Murray, J., Webb, L. M., Babayan, S. A. , Allen, J. E., Kurniawan, A. and Maizels, R. M. (2014) The secreted triose phosphate isomerase of Brugia malayi is required to sustain microfilaria production in vivo. PLoS Pathogens, 10(2), e1003930. (doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003930)
Comandatore, F. et al. (2013) Phylogenomics and analysis of shared genes suggest a single transition to mutualism in Wolbachia of nematodes. Genome Biology and Evolution, 5(9), pp. 1668-1674. (doi: 10.1093/gbe/evt125)
Babayan, S.A. , Allen, J.E. and Taylor, D.W. (2012) Future prospects and challenges of vaccines against filariasis. Parasite Immunology, 34(5), pp. 243-253. (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3024.2011.01350.x)
Little, T.J., Allen, J.E., Babayan, S.A. , Matthews, K.R. and Colegrave, N. (2012) Harnessing evolutionary biology to combat infectious disease. Nature Medicine, 18(2), pp. 217-220. (doi: 10.1038/nm.2572)
Babayan, S.A. , Luo, H., Gray, N., Taylor, D.W. and Allen, J.E. (2012) Deletion of parasite immune modulatory sequences combined with immune activating signals enhances vaccine mediated protection against filarial nematodes. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 6(12), e1968. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001968) (PMID:23301106) (PMCID:PMC3531514)
Babayan, S.A. and Schneider, D.S. (2012) Immunity in society: diverse solutions to common problems. PLoS Biology, 10(4), e1001297. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001297)
Babayan, S.A. et al. (2011) Wild immunology: converging on the real world. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1236(1), pp. 17-29. (doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06251.x)
Coltherd, J.C., Babayan, S.A. , Bunger, L., Kyriazakis, I., Allen, J.E. and Houdijk, J.G.M. (2011) Interactive effects of protein nutrition, genetic growth potential and heligmosomoides bakeri infection pressure on resilience and resistance in mice. Parasitology, 138(10), pp. 1305-1315. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182011000990)
Pedersen, A.B. and Babayan, S.A. (2011) Wild immunology. Molecular Ecology, 20(5), pp. 872-880. (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04938.x)
Babayan, S.A. , Read, A.F., Lawrence, R.A., Bain, O. and Allen, J.E. (2010) Filarial parasites develop faster and reproduce earlier in response to host immune effectors that determine filarial life expectancy. PLoS Biology, 8(10), e1000525. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000525)
Coltherd, J.C., Babayan, S. , Bünger, L., Kyriazakis, I., Allen, J.E. and Houdijk, J.G.M. (2009) Immune responses to macroparasites are sensitive to the interaction between genetic growth potential and protein nutrition in mice. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 68(OCE3), E101. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665109990577)
Attout, T., Martin, C., Babayan, S.A. , Kozek, W.J., Bazzocchi, C., Oudet, F., Gallagher, I.J., Specht, S. and Bain, O. (2008) Pleural cellular reaction to the filarial infection litomosoides sigmodontis is determined by the moulting process, the worm alteration, and the host strain. Parasitology International, 57(2), pp. 201-211. (doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2008.01.001)
Houston, K.M., Babayan, S. , Allen, J.E. and Harnett, W. (2008) Does litomosoides sigmodontis synthesize dimethylethanolamine from choline? Parasitology, 135(1), pp. 55-61. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182007003642) (PMID:17892618)
Taylor, M. D., Harris, A., Babayan, S. A. , Bain, O., Culshaw, A., Allen, J. E. and Maizels, R. M. (2007) CTLA-4 and CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells inhibit protective immunity to filarial parasites in vivo. Journal of Immunology, 179(7), pp. 4626-4634. (doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.179.7.4626) (PMID:17878360)
Babayan, S.A. , Attout, T., Harris, A., Taylor, M.D., Legoff, L., Vuong, P.N., Renia, L., Allen, J.E. and Bain, O. (2006) Vaccination against filarial nematodes with irradiated larvae provides long-term protection against the third larval stage but not against subsequent life cycle stages. International Journal for Parasitology, 36(8), pp. 903-914. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2006.04.013)
Babayan, S. , Attout, T., Specht, S., Hoerauf, A., Snounou, G., Rénia, L., Korenaga, M., Bain, O. and Martin, C. (2005) Increased early local immune responses and altered worm development in high-dose infections of mice susceptible to the filaria litomosoides sigmodontis. Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 194(3), pp. 151-162. (doi: 10.1007/s00430-004-0226-1)
Attout, T., Babayan, S. , Hoerauf, A., Taylor, D.W., Kozek, W.J., Martin, C. and Bain, O. (2005) Blood-feeding in the young adult filarial worms litomosoides sigmodontis. Parasitology, 130(4), pp. 421-428. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182004006651) (PMID:15830816)
Babayan, S.A. , Attout, T., Vuong, P.N., Le Goff, L., Gantier, J. and Bain, O. (2005) The subcutaneous movements of filarial infective larvae are impaired in vaccinated hosts in comparison to primary infected hosts. Filaria Journal, 4(3), (doi: 10.1186/1475-2883-4-3)
Babayan, S. , Ungeheuer, M., Martin, C., Attout, T., Belnoue, E., Snounou, G., Rénia, L., Korenaga, M. and Bain, O. (2003) Resistance and susceptibility to filarial infection with litomosoides sigmodontis are associated with early differences in parasite development and in localized immune reactions. Infection and Immunity, 71(12), pp. 6820-6829. (doi: 10.1128/IAI.71.12.6820-6829.2003)
Bain, O., Guerrero, R., Rodriguez, B., Babayan, S. and Jouvenet, N. (2003) Examination of type material of two species of litomosoides (filarioidea: onchocercidae), parasites from bats; taxonomic consequences. Parasite, 10(3), pp. 211-218. (doi: 10.1051/parasite/2003103211) (PMID:14535160)
Bain, O. and Babayan, S. (2003) Behaviour of filariae: morphological and anatomical signatures of their life style within the arthropod and vertebrate hosts. Filaria Journal, 2(16), (doi: 10.1186/1475-2883-2-16)
Bain, O., Babayan, S. , Gomes, J., Rojas, G. and Guerrero, R. (2002) First account on the larval biology of a litomosoides filaria, from a bat. Parassitologia, 44(1-2), pp. 89-92. (PMID:12404814)
Martin, C., Saeftel, M., Vuong, P.N., Babayan, S. , Fischer, K., Bain, O. and Hoerauf, A. (2001) B-cell deficiency suppresses vaccine-induced protection against murine filariasis but does not increase the recovery rate for primary infection. Infection and Immunity, 69(11), pp. 7067-7073. (doi: 10.1128/IAI.69.11.7067-7073.2001)
Book Sections
Fulton, A., Babayan, S.A. and Taylor, M.D. (2018) Use of the Litomosoides sigmodontis infection model of filariasis to study type 2 immunity. In: Reinhardt, R. L. (ed.) Type 2 Immunity: Methods and Protocols. Series: Methods in molecular biology (1799). Humana Press: New York, NY, pp. 11-26. ISBN 9781493978953 (doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7896-0_2)
Conference Proceedings
Bain, O., Attout, T., Babayan, S. , Kozek, W., Martin, C. and MasComa, S. (2004) Biology of Filariae in the Vertebrate Host: Litomosoides sigmodontis Casts Light on Several "Grey Areas". In: Multidisciplinarity for Parasites, Vectors and Parasitic Diseases: IX European Multicolloquium of Parasitology, Valencia, Spain, 18-23 Jul 2004, pp. 205-209. ISBN 9788875871161
Grants
Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.
- Apodemus superspreaders
Natural Environment Research Council
2024 - 2027
- A scour worm vaccine for sheep
Meat & Livestock Australia Donor Company
2023 - 2028
- Wood Mouse Ageing
Natural Environment Research Council
2023 - 2026
- The impact of metabolism on co-infection immunity
Medical Research Council
2022 - 2023
- Infrared & AI to Diagnose and Quantify Onchocerca volvulus in Blackflies
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
2021 - 2023
- Advancing infrared and AI-based techniques for real time mosquito age-grading and evaluation of malaria vector control interventions in Africa
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
2021 - 2025
- AI and InfraRed Spectroscopy to Accelerate Malaria Control
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
2020 - 2021
- AI-MIRS: An Online Platform for Malaria Vector Surveillance in Africa using Artificial Intelligence and Mosquito InfraRed Spectroscopy
The Royal Society
2019 - 2021
- Consolidating the role of RNA polymerase III in healthy ageing: from worms to flies to mice
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
2019 - 2023
- Safeguarding the welfare of park fallow deer: investigating how chronic stress and management strategies affect immunity and susceptibility to disease
The British Deer Society
2019 - 2019
- Unravelling the impact of artificial light at night on circadian disruption, immunity, and infection risk
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
2018 - 2022
- Assessing the impact of resource provisioning on parasite transmission in a natural multi-parasite community
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
2018 - 2021
- United States-UK partnering award:Co-infection and resistance (CORE)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
2016 - 2020
- ISSF Catalyst: Transcriptomic predictors of acquired immunity to Bovine TB in vaccinated Eurasian Badgers
Wellcome Trust
2015 - 2016
- Dissecting variation in host responsiveness to a recombinant vaccine designed to control teladorsagiosis in sheep
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
2015 - 2018
- Wild Immunomics: characterising protective immunity to helminth infection by integrating transcriptomes and metabolomes of wild rodents (ISSF Catalyst)
Wellcome Trust
2013 - 2014
Supervision
- Casas Gomez-Uribarri, Ivan
Investigating the interactions between ambient temperature, mosquito ageing and Plasmodium EIP - Lennon, Rachel
Using strandings data to assess the impact of multiple stressors on UK marine mammal populations - Mshani, Issa Hassani
Screening of Malaria Infections Using AI-Powered Infrared Spectroscopy - Mwanga, Emmanuel
Using machine learning and infrared spectroscopy for rapid assessment of key entomological and parasitological indicators of malaria transmission
Research datasets
2023
Pazmino Betancourth, M. , Casas Gomez-Uribarri, I., Mondragon-Shem, K., Babayan, S. , Baldini, F. and Lee Rafuse, H. (2023) Mid-infrared spectroscopy data from laboratory reared samples of Glossina spp. [Data Collection]
2022
Siria, D., Sanou, R., Mitton, J., Mwanga, E., Niang, A., Saré, I., Johnson, P. , Wynne, K. , Murray-Smith, R. , Ferguson, H. , Gonzalez Jimenez, M. , Babayan, S. , Diabaté, A., Okumu, F. and Baldini, F. (2022) Rapid age-grading and species identification of natural mosquitoes for malaria surveillance. [Data Collection]
2021
Francoeur, R., Atuhaire, A., Moses, A., Adriko, M., Ajambo, D., Nankasi, A., Babayan, S. and Lamberton, P. (2021) Anonymised raw Schistosoma mansoni and host ABO blood group data for: Francoeur et al. ABO blood group do not predict Schistosoma mansoni infection profiles in highly endemic villages of Uganda. [Data Collection]
2018
Gonzalez Jimenez, M. , Babayan, S. , Khazaeli, P., Doyle, M., Walton, F., Reedy, E., Glew, T., Viana, M. , Ranford-Cartwright, L. , Niang, A., Siria, D. J., Okumu, F., Diabaté, A., Ferguson, H. , Baldini, F. and Wynne, K. (2018) Prediction of malaria mosquito species and population age structure using mid-infrared spectroscopy and supervised machine learning. [Data Collection]