Speaker Profile
Jake Baum

Jake Baum

Cell and Developmental Biology, Immunology and Microbiology, Research and Clinical Research
London, England, United Kingdom

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Dr Jake Baum is a laboratory head and member of faculty in the Division of Infection and Immunity at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne. Jake began his undergraduate studies at the University of Oxford in the UK (1993–1997), after which he moved to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he completed his PhD in human-malaria parasite population genetics (1998–2002). During his doctoral research, Jake became fascinated by the process of parasite invasion of the human erythrocyte, which prompted a move to Australia in 2003 to join the world-renowned laboratory of Professor Alan Cowman. The tenure of Jake’s postdoctoral work in the Cowman lab focused on proteins involved in erythrocyte invasion and led to a series of collaborative papers describing new invasion ligands, several of which have since gone on to become lead blood-stage vaccine candidates.

Jake was fortunate enough to undertake a mini-sabbatical at Yale University with Professor Thomas Pollard – considered the world authority on actin biochemistry. The visit, sparked by a nascent interest in the parasite actin-myosin engine that drives invasion, was a defining moment in Jake’s research career, leading to a shift of focus towards the nuts and bolts of how malaria parasites move. Research from Yale helped Jake to secure an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship, along with his first NHMRC Project Grant. This move to independence was solidified in January 2010, with Jake’s appointment as a laboratory head at WEHI.
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