Editor-in-Chief

Prof. Robert Poulin - University of Otago, Department of Zoology, New Zealand

Originally from Montreal, Canada, Robert obtained a BSc from McGill University and a PhD from Laval University, before eventually joining the University of Otago in 1992. Since arriving there, he has established a research programme in parasite ecology and evolution that focuses on broad questions but not on any particular taxa. 

Currently, his research group has four main research directions. First, his lab investigates the forces shaping the evolution of parasites, in particular the evolution of life history traits such as body size, host specificity, the ability to manipulate host behaviour, and the complexity of the transmission pathways. Second, they are studying the role of parasites in aquatic ecosystems, i.e. how they affect community diversity and food web stability, and how parasitism may interact with climate change to influence the properties of ecosystems. Third, Robert has long been exploring large-scale patterns of parasite biodiversity and biogeography, searching for the processes behind the diversification and distribution of parasites and diseases. Finally, Robert and his team are now turning toward the role of parasite microbiomes in shaping the host-parasite interaction. 

Robert was awarded Otago University’s Distinguished Research Medal in 2013, the Hutton Medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2011 for outstanding contribution to animal sciences, the Wardle Medal from the Canadian Society of Zoologists in 2007 for outstanding contribution to parasitology, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2001.

Deputy Editor

Prof. Stephen J. Davies - Uniformed Services University, USA

Originally from Wales, Stephen obtained his degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Francisco, Stephen joined the faculty at Uniformed Services University in 2004. He is broadly interested in the natural history of host-helminth relationships, from both the host and parasite perspectives. His research on host immune responses is focused on understanding the contribution of CD4⁺ T cells to host defense and the development of immunopathology. Elucidating how helminths respond and adapt to environmental stresses, including host immune pressure, is the other main focus of his research.   Stephen’s contributions to research and teaching have been recognized by awards from the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at Uniformed Services University. He is a member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the American Society of Parasitologists, and the Helminthological Society of Washington.

Social Media Editor

Dr. Tommy Leung - University of New England, Australia

Tommy is a Lecturer in Parasitology and Evolutionary Biology based at University of New England, Australia. Their main research interest is on various aspects of parasitism/symbiosis, including host-parasite interactions, parasite life histories, disease ecology, symbioses, as well as macroecology and macroevolution of parasites and parasitism.

In addition to their scientific research, Tommy also writes the Parasite of the Day blog (https://dailyparasite.blogspot.com/), which features and discuss a newly published paper about parasites each month, written in a style that is aimed at a general audience. They have also written popular science articles about parasites for The Conversation, as well as appearing on various science podcasts talking about parasites.

Editorial Board

Prof. Edwin Claerebout - Ghent University, Belgium

Edwin Claerebout is an EBVS^® European Veterinary Specialist in Parasitology (dipEVPC) and professor in parasitology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University, Belgium. His research interests cover parasitic diseases in livestock, in particular sustainable parasite control in cattle. This includes vaccine development against gastrointestinal nematodes, antiparasitic resistance, decision support tools for parasite control, and research into barriers and incentives for uptake of sustainable parasite control by farmers. 

Dr. Thomas H. Cribb - University of Queensland, Australia

Tom Cribb is at the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. His professional research career has focussed primarily on trematodes – first on those of Australian freshwater fishes, then on Australian mammals and, since the early 1990s, on those of marine fishes. The focus of the work is to describe the species, characterise their distributions, life cycles and host-specificity, and to explore evolutionary history. Fieldwork is concentrated on the Australian coast, especially the Great Barrier Reef, and further afield from South Africa to French Polynesia when the chance arises. Key collaborators include Rod Bray and Tim Littlewood of the Natural History Museum and Scott Cutmore at the University of Queensland.

Prof. Charles D. Criscione - Texas A&M University, USA

Charles Criscione is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University. He obtained a B.S. from Louisiana State University, a M.S. from Southeastern Louisiana University and a Ph.D. from Oregon State University. His research group studies the interplay between the ecology and evolution of parasites (mostly metazoan parasites of animals). Of particular interest are questions centered on how parasite life histories and ecological dynamics influence evolutionary mechanisms and hence, consequential patterns of genetic variation within and among parasite populations. Population genetic and molecular evolutionary data are often used to address various questions that span levels of organization from genes to individuals to populations to species.

Prof. Chia-Kwung Fan - Taipei Medical University, Taiwan

Chia-Kwung Fan received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of Microbiology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine. Also, he obtained the LL.M from the Graduate Institute of Law and Interdisciplinary Studies, College of Law, National Chengchi University, Taiwan to expand his academic knowlege concerning the international intellectual properties (I.P.) between neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and patent pool. Currently, he is working as a full-time Professor in the Department of Molecular Parasitology and Tropical Diseases, School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, and he also works as an Expert Consultant for the Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan. His current administrative job is as Department Head. His research has included the study of NTDs, particularly of the zoonotic parasitoses as well as the epidemiology, molecular and immunopathogenesis of cerebral toxocariasis and neurodegenerative diseases since 1995. Since 2009, he has led his research team to undertake epidemiological studies with associated risk factor analysis aiming to control NTDs and T. canis infection among (pre-)school children in some Africa countries as well as the Pacific Islands. He has authored 82 research articles from 1998 to the present, as well as 5 book chapters.

Dr. Martín García Varela - University National Autonomous of Mexico

Martín García Varela is a research in the Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology at University National Autonomous of Mexico, (UNAM). He obtained a Ph.D., in the department of Immunology, Instituto de investigaciones Biomedicas at UNAM. He made two postdoctoral stays, the first at University of Florida and the second at University of California, Davis until 2005. His studies are focused on the use of morphological, statistic and molecular tools to describe species and build phylogenetic trees and haplotype networks for studying helminths of diverse groups such as: acanthocephalans, digeneas and tapeworms, associated to marine, brackish and freshwater fishes, turtles, aquatic birds and marine mammals distributed in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions from Mexico and some countries as: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica in Middle America. Much of his studies involve the sequencing of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA genes. The phylogenetic hypotheses inferred with molecular markers are used as a framework to understand the host-parasites associations as well the diversification of the helminths in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions of Mexico.

Dr. Simona Georgieva – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Simona is a researcher at the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in Parasitology from the University of South Bohemia (Czechia) and conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute of Parasitology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and at the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology within the University of Valencia, Spain. Prior to her current position she was an Outstanding Overseas Researchers of the Nation Research Foundation of Korea. Her research is collection based, driven by the importance of species identification, and focused on the documentation of metazoan parasite diversity from an evolutionary perspective and in the context of global change. She currently works on biodiversity-health related questions with a special emphasis on trematodes with zoonotic importance across diverse environmental gradients. Simona sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Helminthology and Biodiversity Data Journal.

Dr. Hervé Hoste - INRA, France

Hervé graduated as a veterinarian and obtained a PhD in Veterinary Pathology. He did a post doctoral in Melbourne University.  He works for INRA, (the French National Institute for Research in Agriculture) as a Senior Researcher. His main field of research has been and is still in Helminthology of Ruminants, especially with studies concerning gastro intestinal nematode infections in small ruminants. He has gained experience in phylogeny, pathology and pathophysiology of nematode infections and the control of these parasitic diseases. Since the last 20 years, his studies have mainly focused on the potential use of plants and on the antiparasitic bioactivity of the associated secondary compounds as potential alternative to synthetic anthelmintics. This field of research has been developped through collaborations within Europe, but also within collaborative projects with Mexico, Brazil and Africa.

Hervé is a member of the WAAVP (World Association for Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology). He is also a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Parasitologists and member of the Board of the International Goat Association.

Prof. Janet Koprivnikar - Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada

Janet is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Canada, as well as a Specialist Editor for the International Journal of Parasitology. She received her PhD from the University of Toronto and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Janet and her research group are broadly interested in the ecology of host-parasite interactions in wildlife, with a focus on aquatic macroparasites, especially trematodes. This includes the ways by which hosts resist and tolerate parasite infections, and how these are affected by their environment. Current and past areas of inquiry involve host anti-parasite behaviours, effects of contaminants on hosts and parasites, and parasite roles in food webs with the hope that conservation and disease management efforts will be enhanced by the integration of parasites into individual, population, community, and ecosystem-level processes.

Prof. Gerardo Pérez Ponce de León - National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico

Gerardo is a parasitologist currently affiliated to the Department of Natural Systems and Processes of ENES-Mérida, a newly founded school of the National University in the Yucatán Peninsula. He worked for 35 years at the Biology Institute of UNAM, which is the depository of the National Collection of Helminths, the largest in Latin America. He works with parasite systematics, evolutionary biology and biogeography. He has published manuscripts describing the patterns and processes of the helminth parasite fauna of wildlife vertebrates, although his major research focus has been on fish helminth biodiversity; he uses an integrative taxonomy approach, i.e., morphology, DNA sequences, ecology, host-specificity, and other sources of information to search for patterns of parasite diversity. His current work focuses on the systematics of marine fish trematodes in the coasts of the Yucatán Peninsula, and the biogeography of freshwater fish helminth parasites in Middle America.

Prof. Eric Samuel Loker - University of New Mexico, USA

Sam is interested in schistosome biology, particularly those aspects relating to interactions between schistosomes and their obligatory snail intermediate hosts. He seeks to reveal the diversity of both avian and mammalian schistosomes, and investigates the immunological interplay between schistosome (and other trematode) larvae and their snail hosts. He maintains an active research program focused on transmission of human schistosomiasis in complex environmental settings in and around Lake Victoria in Kenya. He is interested in biological aspects of elimination of schistosomiasis in particular settings, and in helping to preserve a record of the world’s diversity of parasites by serving as Curator of the Division of Parasites at the Museum of Southwestern Biology, UNM. He seeks to present parasitology as a vibrant and progressive discipline with a textbook co-authored with Dr. Bruce Hofkin, Parasitology: a conceptual approach. 

Prof. Richard J. Martin - Iowa State University, USA

Richard is a pharmacologist and parasitologist interested in the modes of action and mechanisms of resistance to antiparasitic drugs.   Richard holds the E. A. Benbrook Endowed Chair of Pathology and Parasitology at Iowa State University and is a Distinguished Professor.   His current work focuses on the modes of action of emodepside, diethylcarbamazine and ivermectin. 

Prof. Dr. Honoris Causa Santiago Mas-Coma - University of Valencia, Spain

Prof. S. Mas-Coma is Parasitology Chairman and Director of the Human Parasitic Disease Unit of the Parasitology Department, University of Valencia, Spain, and Director of the "Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization on Fascioliasis and Its Snail Vectors" (WHO/OMS Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland) and of the "FAO-United Nations Reference Centre for Parasitology" (FAO Headquarters Rome, Italy). He is currently the President of the International Federation for Tropical Medicine (IFTM 2012-2020), Former President of the European Federation of Parasitologists (EFP 2004-2012), and Former President of the Spanish Society of Parasitology (SEP 2003-2007). He is also an Expert Member of WHO in Human Parasitology (Headquarters Geneva) and was a member of the WHO-STAG Committee (WHO/OMS, Headquarters Geneva, 2009-2014), and adviser of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, Headquarters Vienna). He is the Director of the well-known International Master’s Course on Tropical Parasitic Diseases (University of Valencia). S. Mas-Coma has the title of Specialist in Microbiology and Parasitology and is mainly working on Helminthology but also protozoan diseases and vectors (molluscs and arthropods) of vector-borne parasitoses. During his career he has been mainly dedicated to Neglected Infectious Diseases (NIDs) in developing countries throughout the world. His international scientific relationships and research collaborations cover almost all countries of Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. From the 80s, his research activities have focused on fluke diseases, among which mainly human fascioliasis, intestinal parasitic diseases, American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, and recently also working on malaria and leishmaniasis vectors. His articles (more than 400 research papers, among which books and reviews) have been published in numerous scientific journals of Parasitology, Tropical Medicine, Public Health and Molecular Biology and his numerous contributions (900 papers/conferences) presented in international and national events, congresses and centres worldwide. This context of great scientific production of worldwide recognition has led him to be a very cited author. He is a member and/or honorary member of numerous societies, adviser of many international and national agencies, and of journals and international research projects, member of editorial boards, and evaluation committees of different countries, institutions and centres. He has been honoured with many international and national prizes and awards.

Prof. Haseeb Randhawa - University of Iceland, Iceland

Haseeb obtained his PhD in Biology (Parasitology) from the University of New Brunswick (Canada). He then travelled to New Zealand to undertake a post doc in Evolutionary Ecology of marine parasites at the University of Otago and remained at Otago as a member of the academic staff in Ecology until 2016. Haseeb took on the position of fisheries ecologist with the Falkland Islands Government Fisheries Department until 2020, before working as a fisheries consultant with the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI). Since July 2021, Haseeb is an academic staff member at the University of Iceland in the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences. His research foci include: (1) the use parasites as part of an integrative approach to stock discrimination of commerical fish species; (2) include parasites in the study of trophic structure and dynamics in marine food webs; and (3) the evolutionary processes shaping host-parasite interactions. Haseeb sits on the editorial board of Marine and Freshwater Research, is a senior research fellow with SAERI, and a Research Associate with the New Brunswick Museum.

Prof. David Rollinson - Natural History Museum, UK

David is an Individual Merit Research Scientist and Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for the identification and characterization of schistosomes and their snail intermediate hosts at the Natural History Museum, London. He is a member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Parasitic Diseases (Schistosomiasis). In 2017 he became Director of the Global Schistosomiasis Alliance and actively promotes the control and elimination of schistosomiasis. He is editor of the parasitology review journal Advances in Parasitology and sits on the editorial board of many other journals. He is a former President of the British Society for Parasitology and the World Federation of Parasitologists.   

David’s research goal is to work towards a better synthesis and understanding of host parasite interactions, especially of the schistosome-snail model, and to contribute to efforts to control and eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) across Africa. His research team employs a multidisciplinary approach, combining state-of-the-art molecular techniques with detailed studies of vector and parasite interactions in endemic areas of disease. He has worked on projects in >16 African countries, and has a strong network of international collaborators. Current projects include working on inter-species hybridization events and the possibility of emerging zoonotic infections in West Africa. He is also investigating the population structure of schistosomes causing intestinal and urogenital schistosomiasis in changing environments, especially the impact of chemotherapy on parasite genetic diversity (in Niger and Tanzania) and the control and elimination of urogenital schistosomiasis in Zanzibar. David has published over 300 research papers and has received many honours and awards in recognition of his contribution to the field of parasitology most recently he has received medals from both the Linnean Society and the International Federation of Tropical Medicine.

Prof. Shokoofeh Shamsi - Charles Sturt University, Australia

Shokoofeh Shamsi is a Professor at Charles Sturt University, Australia, where she leads the Parasitology research and teaching team within the School of Agricultural, Environmental, and Veterinary Sciences. With expertise in taxonomy, her research primarily focuses on parasites, including nematodes, Monogenea, and Digenea. Beyond taxonomy, Professor Shamsi's research extends across diverse fields, contributing insights to the broader domain of animal and human health, foodborne parasitic diseases, and the drivers influencing patterns of parasite transmission within ecosystems.

Prof. Banchob Sripa - Khon Kaen University, Thailand

Banchob Sripa is a TRF Senior Research Fellow, KKU Senior Research Fellow and Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Research and Control of Opisthorchiasis (Southeast Asian Liver Fluke Disease), the Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. Banchob is also a panel member of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Disease Reference Group on Helminths (DRG), Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG), and WHO advisers. He is the former President of the Regional Network of Asian Schistosomiasis and Other Helminth Zoonoses (RNAS+). He has been working for >30 years on biology, immunology, host-parasite interaction, pathogenesis of opisthorchiasis and puts strong efforts to control and eliminate human liver flukes across Asia. His integrated liver fluke control program named “Lawa model” is one of the two showcases with success helminth control of WHO/NZD4. Over a decade, he organizes annual Asian Neglected Tropical Diseases Conference (NTDASIA) for sharing knowledge and experiences among Asian scientists and experts from outside Asia. Banchob has >230 research articles, viewpoints, editorials and reviews in peer reviewed international journals and book chapters.  He sits on the Deputy Editor of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Associate Editor of Tropical Medicine & International Health, and editorial boards of Infectious Diseases of Poverty, J. Helminthology and Current Tropical Medicine Reports.  He has received several scientific research awards, the most prestige the Thailand Outstanding Scientist Award (the King Award) and the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) Senior Research Scholar.

Prof. Russell Stothard - Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK

Professor Stothard is a medical parasitologist with board interests in the evolution, epidemiology and ecology of parasites. His main interest is on schistosomiasis (Schistosoma spp. and planorbid snails) and its control with large-scale preventive chemotherapy. Secondary interests include soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) and other snail-trematode diseases e.g. fascioliasis. Most recent research he has been investigating the interplay between female and male genital schistosomiasis with the HIV epidemic in in sub-Sharan Africa.

Prof. Andrew Thompson - Murdoch University, Australia

Professor Andrew Thompson is Emeritus Professor of Parasitology at Murdoch University. He has over 40 years experience in basic and applied parasitology and is on the Council of the Australian Society for Parasitology. His research covers the biology, taxonomy and life cycles of parasites of significance to public health and the conservation of wildlife. He is Editor-in-Chief of International Journal for Parasitology:Parasites and Wildlife, and currently on the Editorial Boards of Advances in Parasitology, Trends in Parasitology, Experimental Parasitology, and Journal of Helminthology

Prof. Juan T. Timi - Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET, Argentina

Juan is currently Professor of Invertebrate Biology, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina and Principal Researcher at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET).

His research is focused on taxonomy and ecology of fish parasites, mainly in community ecology and the use of parasites as indicators of host distribution and zoogeography.

Prof. Xing-Quan Zhu - Shanxi Agricultural University, China

Xing-Quan obtained his BVSc degree from the Sichuan Institute of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, a MVSc degree from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and a PhD in parasitology from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is currently the Distinguished Professor of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Shanxi Agricultural University. Prof Zhu’s current research interests focus on the genetics, genomics and functional “omics” of parasites; parasite-host interactions; molecular vaccines, and the epidemiology and control strategies of parasitic infections. He serves as a Subject Editor for Parasites & Vectors and a Section Editor for Parasitology Research. He has published more than 300 articles in well-regarded international journals.

Professor Janine Caira - University of Connecticut, USA

Dr Ryan Hechinger - University of California, San Diego, USA

Dr Peter Olson - The Natural History Museum, UK

Professor Bernd Sures - University of Duisberg-Essen, Germany

Professor Paul Torgerson - University of Zurich, Switzerland

Professor Victor Vidal Martinez - Cinvestav-IPN, Merida, Mexico