Raffi Van Aroian

Biography

Raffi Van Aroian in present is professor in the field of molecular medicine at UMASS medical school,USA.His main goal including his team is to discover new and superior treatments for human soil-transmitted helminths (intestinal nematode parasites). These parasites, aka hookworm, whipworm, and Ascaris (large roundworm) infect upwards of 2 billion people in the world and are leading causes of childhood stunting (physical/cognitive), malutrition, adverse preganancy outcomes, loss of productivity... worldwide. For example, when once prevalent in the United States, it is estimated that hookworm-infected US children made 40% less money when they grew up than uninfected peers. These parasites are major causes of poverty worldwide. In addition, the drugs we have now to treat these infections are inadequate to treat some of the parasites and inadequate to eradicate all of them. We are discovering and developing new de-worming (anthelmintic) compounds with superior characteristics to those currently in use and developing novel delivery strategies to make these compounds available widely and cheaply in the developing world. We are also studying how anthelmintic compounds work and how parasite resistance can be overcome.

Research Interest

soil-transmitted helminths,medicine