W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology

Gonadal steroids as predictors of s*x differences in tuberculosis outcomes - PubMed Recent evidence suggests a role for biological factors to explain increased risk for active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among men. We conducted a prospective cohort study in Mali of treatment naive males and females with laboratory-confirmed PTB and latent TB infection (LTBI) and healthy controls o...

Scent and adhesion drive insect dispersal of environmental yeast - PubMed Insects and terrestrial fungi have lived on planet earth together for over 400 My. Different insect species are commonly associated with distinct mycobiomes. These insect-fungal associations are thought to provide a major dispersal mechanism for fungi in the environment. The Rhodotorula genus...

Fung-AI: An AI/ML-driven pipeline for antifungal peptide discovery - PubMed Emerging fungal pathogens represent a concerning threat to both global health and food security. In this study, we aimed to address our rising vulnerability to fungal pathogens through the development of the Fung-AI pipeline: an AI/ML-driven approach for antifungal discovery. A generative adversaria...

Chlorella sorokiniana KU.B2 microalga inhibits Aedes aegypti larval development - PubMed Insecticide-resistant Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) poses a growing global challenge, reducing the effectiveness of conventional chemical control and raising the need for sustainable alternatives. Targeting the larval stage remains a key strategy in mosquito management. Here, the effects of the mi...

Effects of Chlorella sorokiniana KU.B2 microalga on the development of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae - PubMed Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) is a significant vector of lymphatic filariasis and arboviruses. Current control strategies rely heavily on chemical insecticides, highlighting the need for alternative and environmentally sustainable approaches. This study evaluated the effects of the microalga Chlorell...

Mirror microbial life and the dual use dilemma - PubMed Life as we know it on Earth contains sugars and amino acids that are, for the most part, in only one of two chiral forms. However, it has been proposed that molecules with the opposite chirality, called mirror molecules, could have beneficial uses. This possibility has led to discussions of producin...

HIV, nephrotoxic medications, and chronic kidney disease: Prevalence, risk factors, and mediation analyses among people with and without HIV enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS)/ Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) combined... While it is well established that PLWH have a higher prevalence of CKD compared to PLWoH, our findings suggest that nephrotoxic medication use may modestly amplify this risk. Although most of the risk appears to be attributable to the direct effects of HIV, these medications represent a modifiable c...

Population-Level Raman Biochemical Staging of Malaria in Human Red Blood Cells Using Interpretable Machine Learning - PubMed Accurate malaria staging is vital for treatment decisions and monitoring of transmission. Because mature Plasmodium falciparum parasites sequester in deep vasculature, noninvasive diagnostics must target circulating ring stages and transmissible gametocyte stages. Label-free optical detection...

Epidemiology of malaria and leishmaniasis in Thailand (2004-2025): A systematic review - PubMed Malaria and leishmaniasis remain major vector-borne parasitic diseases in tropical and subtropical regions. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize evidence on the epidemiology and shared ecological and epidemiological characteristics of malaria and leishmaniasis in Thailand from 2004 to...

A STAT1/ETC/GBP1 axis represents a potential therapeutic target for noncommunicable granulomatous skin disease - PubMed Granuloma annulare (GA) and cutaneous sarcoidosis (cSAR) have an overlapping immunopathology, in which the aberrant activation of macrophages by IFN-γ constitutes a central driver. Nevertheless, the molecular understanding in GA and cSAR macrophages remains limited. We reanalyzed single-cell RNA se...