![](https://medschool.umich.edu/sites/default/files/styles/square_1_1/public/2024-01/Vern_Carruthers-1200x1500.jpeg?h=d94c4b90&itok=oI31PGKd)
1550 West Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5620
Available to mentor
![](https://medschool.umich.edu/sites/default/files/styles/square_1_1/public/2024-01/Vern_Carruthers-1200x1500.jpeg?h=d94c4b90&itok=oI31PGKd)
Dr. Carruthers and his research team study the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis, a disease of humans and animals caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. A cousin of the malaria parasite, T. gondii causes congenital birth defects in infants, loss of vision in otherwise healthy adults or life threatening myocarditis or encephalitis in immunocompromised individuals. His team has discovered parasite virulence factors that function in host cell invasion, nutrient acquisition and lytic egress from host cells causing tissue damage and inflammation. His group has also defined new mechanisms of stage differentiation and persistence along with demonstrating the efficacy of novel experimental therapeutic compounds for treating the chronic phase of infection. After completing his PhD training in his native country Canada, Dr. Carruthers performed postdoctoral studies at The Rockefeller University and Washington University in St. Louis before launching his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2006 he was recruited to the University of Michigan where he leads a team of 7-10 investigators as a tenured Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Carruthers has served on study sections for the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the National Science Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, among other funding agencies. He has also fulfilled editorial duties for several journals including PLOS Pathogens and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. He is the current Director of the Molecular Mechanisms of Microbial Pathogenesis NIH T32 graduate training program and is a former Associate Director for the Cellular and Molecular Biology graduate training program. Dr. Carruthers is a past recipient of a Burroughs Wellcome New Investigator in Molecular Parasitology, and he is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Research in Dr. Carruthers’ lab has appreciated >20 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies.
Carruthers Lab
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PhDWestern University, London, 1990
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BScUniversity of Victoria, Victoria, 1985
Parasite nutrient acquisition via an ingestion pathway that exploits host ESCRT machinery
Regulating parasite stage differentiation through protein translation
Parasite manipulation of host organelles and cytoskeleton
Parasite persistence, particularly the role of autophagy during the chronic stage of infection
Drug development to cure chronic Toxoplasma infection
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Carruthers VB, Dou Z. mBio, 2024 Feb 26; e0028324Journal ArticleDeciphering protein prenylation in endocytic trafficking in Toxoplasma gondii.
DOI:10.1128/mbio.00283-24 PMID: 38407123 -
Piro F, Masci S, Kannan G, Focaia R, Schultz TL, Thaprawat P, Carruthers VB, Di Cristina M. mSphere, 2024 Jan 30; 9 (1): e0059723Journal ArticleA Toxoplasma gondii putative amino acid transporter localizes to the plant-like vacuolar compartment and controls parasite extracellular survival and stage differentiation.
DOI:10.1128/msphere.00597-23 PMID: 38051073 -
Romano PS, Akematsu T, Besteiro S, Bindschedler A, Carruthers VB, Chahine Z, Coppens I, Descoteaux A, Alberto Duque TL, He CY, Heussler V, Le Roch KG, Li F-J, de Menezes JPB, Menna-Barreto RFS, Mottram JC, Schmuckli-Maurer J, Turk B, Tavares Veras PS, Salassa BN, Vanrell MC. Autophagy Rep, 2023 2 (1):Journal ArticleAutophagy in protists and their hosts: When, how and why?
DOI:10.1080/27694127.2022.2149211 PMID: 37064813 -
Valleau D, Sidik SM, Godoy LC, Acevedo-Sánchez Y, Pasaje CFA, Huynh M-H, Carruthers VB, Niles JC, Lourido S. EMBO J, 2023 Dec 1; 42 (23): e113155Journal ArticleA conserved complex of microneme proteins mediates rhoptry discharge in Toxoplasma.
DOI:10.15252/embj.2022113155 PMID: 37886905 -
Koreny L, Mercado-Saavedra BN, Klinger CM, Barylyuk K, Butterworth S, Hirst J, Rivera-Cuevas Y, Zaccai NR, Holzer VJC, Klingl A, Dacks JB, Carruthers VB, Robinson MS, Gras S, Waller RF. Nat Commun, 2023 Apr 15; 14 (1): 2167Journal ArticleStable endocytic structures navigate the complex pellicle of apicomplexan parasites.
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-37431-x PMID: 37061511 -
Aghabi D, Sloan M, Gill G, Hartmann E, Antipova O, Dou Z, Guerra AJ, Carruthers VB, Harding CR. Nat Commun, 2023 Jun 20; 14 (1): 3659Journal ArticleThe vacuolar iron transporter mediates iron detoxification in Toxoplasma gondii.
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-39436-y PMID: 37339985 -
Wang F, Holmes MJ, Hong HJ, Thaprawat P, Kannan G, Huynh M-H, Schultz TL, Licon MH, Lourido S, Sullivan WJ, O'Leary SE, Carruthers VB. 2023 Nov 3;PreprintTranslation initiation factor eIF1.2 promotes Toxoplasma stage conversion by regulating levels of key differentiation factors.
DOI:10.1101/2023.11.03.565545 PMID: 37961607 -
Piro F, Masci S, Kannan G, Focaia R, Schultz TL, Carruthers VB, Di Cristina M. 2023 Sep 1;PreprintA Toxoplasma gondii putative arginine transporter localizes to the plant-like vacuolar compartment and controls parasite extracellular survival and stage differentiation.
DOI:10.1101/2023.08.31.555807 PMID: 37693549