James Wasmuth
Associate Professor (Host-Parasite Interactions)
Associate Member
Full Member
BSc, MRes, PhD
Contact information
Location
Courses
Graduate Teaching:
- Practical Bioinformatics
- Genome Informatics
- Integrated Parasitology
- Helminthology
Undergraduate Teaching:
- Genetics and Molecular Biology (first year DVM)
Research and teaching
Research Interests
- Immunology and Infectious Disease
Research / Scholarly Activities
Dr. Wasmuth's lab uses genomics, and bioinformatics to study parasitic worms (helminths).
The two main themes are:
1) understanding how parasitism evolved and identifying the genomic adaptations involved,
2) modeling biochemical pathways of parasites to identify targets for much-needed anti-parasitic drugs.
The drug discovery research focuses on the helminths of cattle, a significant problem for animal welfare, and the production economics of Albertan and Canadian cattle industries. The Wasmuth lab is supported by funding from NSERC, Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, and Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.
Biography
Dr. Wasmuth received a BSc (Biochemistry) from Imperial College, London, an MRes (Bioinformatics) from the University of York (UK), and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. He conducted his postdoctoral training at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and the National Institutes of Health (USA). Dr. Wasmuth joined the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2011 and is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecosystem and Public Health. He is a fellow of the Linnean Society of London and has been awarded the Faculty’s award for Outstanding Graduate Supervision.