Marshall W. Lightowlers BSc, PhD

Professor Marshall Lightowlers is Principal Research Fellow with the National Health and Medical Research Council and Professor in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at The University of Melbourne. Professor Lightowlers’ research career has focused on the immunology and molecular biology of taeniid cestode parasites. He was a member of a team of scientists which developed the first recombinant vaccine against a parasitic disease. Subsequently he has sought to development similar vaccines against infection with the larval stages of cestode parasites causing zoonotic infections in humans. This led to the development of highly effective, recombinant vaccines against cysticercosis in cattle and pigs caused by Taenia saginata and Taenia solium, respectively.

In collaboration with researchers at Wallaceville New Zealand, he and his colleagues also produced a recombinant vaccine against infection with hydatid disease. The effectiveness of these vaccines makes them unique in helminth parasitology and they provide valuable models for the development of vaccines against other eukaryotic parasites. Professor Lightowlers’ vaccines against Taenia solium and Echinococcus granulosus are undergoing further development and optimization in preparation for their practical use. Application of the vaccines will be expected to reduce the transmission of these parasites and thereby reduce the number of new human cases of hydatid disease and neurocysticercosis.