Kenneth D Stuart, PhD

Kenneth D Stuart, PhD

Infectious Disease Research

Children's Title: Principal Investigator, Supervisor, Center for Global Infectious Disease Research

Academic Title: Professor

Research Center: Center for Global Infectious Disease Research

  • Biography

    Ken Stuart, PhD, is a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Global Health in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Washington where he chaired the Department of Pathobiology and at Seattle Children’s Research Institute's Center for Global Infectious Disease Research and is an Affiliate Investigator in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. He received a BA in Biology from Northeastern University, a MA in Biology from Wesleyan University and a PhD in Zoology from the University of Iowa. He received Postdoctoral training in Biochemistry at the National Institute for Medical Research, London and at SUNY Stony Brook before becoming an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of South Florida prior to moving to Washington when he founded the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (aka the Center for Infectious Disease Research). He is an expert on the molecular and cell biology of parasitic pathogens and is known for his groundbreaking studies of RNA editing, a novel fundamental genetic process, and antigenic variation. He led a consortium for the discovery of drugs for parasitic diseases and was a leader in an international consortium that sequenced and interpreted the genomes of three related parasites. He is continuing in depth studies on RNA editing and currently leads a multi-institutional project studying human immune responses to Malaria, HIV, and Covid vaccinations and infections.

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  • Awards and Honors

    Award Name Award Description Awarded By Award Date
    Pioneer in Global Health Washington Global Health Alliance 2014
    Alice and C.C. Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2013
    Stoll-Stunkard Memorial Award and Lectureship American Society of Parasitologists 2002
    Denis Thienpont Prize For work in RNA Editing Royal Academies of Medicine of Belgium 1997
    NIAID Merit Award National Institutes of Health 1992 - 2002
    The Burroughs Wellcome Fund Molecular Parasitology Scholar Award 1988 - 1993
    The Burroughs Wellcome Fund Special Award in Molecular Parasitology 1986 - 1988
    Summer Faculty Research Fellowship American Society for Engineering Education/Navy 1985

  • Publications

    Manuscripts in Refereed Journals

    • Carnes J, McDermott SM, Lewis I, Tracy M, Stuart K
      Domain function and predicted structure of three heterodimeric endonuclease subunits of RNA editing catalytic complexes in Trypanosoma brucei.
      36095119 Nucleic acids research, 2022 Sep 23 : 50(17)10123-10139 PMCID:PMC9508840
    • Du Y, Hertoghs N, Duffy FJ, Carnes J, McDermott SM, Neal ML, Schwedhelm KV, McElrath MJ, De Rosa SC, Aitchison JD, Stuart KD
      Systems analysis of immune responses to attenuated P. falciparum malaria sporozoite vaccination reveals excessive inflammatory signatures correlating with impaired immunity.
      35108339 PLoS pathogens, 2022 Feb. : 18(2)e1010282 PMCID:PMC8843222
    • Moncunill G, Carnes J, Chad Young W, Carpp L, De Rosa S, Campo JJ, Nhabomba A, Mpina M, Jairoce C, Finak G, Haas P, Muriel C, Van P, Sanz H, Dutta S, Mordmüller B, Agnandji ST, Díez-Padrisa N, Williams NA, Aponte JJ, Valim C, Neafsey DE, Daubenberger C, McElrath MJ, Dobaño C, Stuart K, Gottardo R
      Transcriptional correlates of malaria in RTS,S/AS01-vaccinated African children: a matched case-control study.
      35060479 eLife, 2022 Jan 21 : 11 PMCID:PMC8782572
    • Neal ML, Duffy FJ, Du Y, Aitchison JD, Stuart KD
      Preimmunization correlates of protection shared across malaria vaccine trials in adults.
      35031601 NPJ vaccines, 2022 Jan 14 : 7(1)5 PMCID:PMC8760258
    • Duffy FJ, Du Y, Carnes J, Epstein JE, Hoffman SL, Abdulla S, Jongo S, Mpina M, Daubenberger C, Aitchison JD, Stuart K
      Early whole blood transcriptional responses to radiation-attenuated Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite vaccination in malaria naïve and malaria pre-exposed adult volunteers.
      34243763 Malaria journal, 2021 Jul 9 : 20(1)308 PMCID:PMC8267772
    • Healy SA, Murphy SC, Hume JCC, Shelton L, Kuntz S, Van Voorhis WC, Moodie Z, Metch B, Wang R, Silver-Brace T, Fishbaugher M, Kennedy M, Finney OC, Chaturvedi R, Marcsisin SR, Hobbs CV, Warner-Lubin M, Talley AK, Wong-Madden S, Stuart K, Wald A, Kappe SH, Kublin JG, Duffy PE
      Chemoprophylaxis Vaccination: Phase I Study to Explore Stage-specific Immunity to Plasmodium falciparum in US Adults.
      31621832 Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2020 Sep 12 : 71(6)1481-1490 PMCID:PMC7486848
    • Rakshit S, Ahmed A, Adiga V, Sundararaj BK, Sahoo PN, Kenneth J, D'Souza G, Bonam W, Johnson C, Franken KL, Ottenhoff TH, Finak G, Gottardo R, Stuart KD, De Rosa SC, McElrath MJ, Vyakarnam A.
      BCG revaccination boosts adaptive polyfunctional Th1/Th17 and innate effectors in IGRA+ and IGRA- Indian adults.
      JCI Insight., 2019 Dec 19 : 4(24)pii: 130540.
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31743110
    • Vijayan K, Cestari I, Mast FD, Glennon EKK, McDermott SM, Kain HS, Brokaw AM, Aitchison JD, Stuart K, Kaushansky A.
      Plasmodium Secretion Induces Hepatocyte Lysosome Exocytosis and Promotes Parasite Entry.
      iScience., 2019 Nov 22 : 21603-611. PMCID:PMC6889558
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31731198
    • Healy SA, Murphy SC, Hume JCC, Shelton L, Kuntz S, Van Voorhis WC, Moodie Z, Metch B, Wang R, Silver-Brace T, Fishbaugher M, Kennedy M, Finney OC, Chaturvedi R, Hobbs CV, Warner-Lubin M, Talley AK, Wong-Madden S, Stuart K, Wald A, Kappe SH, Kublin JG, Duffy PE.
      Chemoprophylaxis vaccination: Phase 1 study to explore stage-specific immunity to Plasmodium falciparum in U.S. adults.
      Clin Infect Dis., 2019 Oct 17 : Epub ahead
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31621832
    • McDermott SM, Carnes J, Stuart K.
      Editosome RNase III domain interactions are essential for editing and differ between life cycle stages in Trypanosoma brucei.
      RNA., 2019 Sept. : 25(9)1150-1163. PMCID:PMC6800513
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31171708
    • Cestari I, McLeland-Wieser H, Stuart K.
      Nuclear Phosphatidylinositol 5-Phosphatase Is Essential for Allelic Exclusion of Variant Surface Glycoprotein Genes in Trypanosomes.
      Mol Cell Biol., 2019 Jan 16 : 39(3)pii: e00395-18. PMCID:PMC6336139
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30420356
    • Rothen J, Murie C, Carnes J, Anupama A, Abdulla S, Chemba M, Mpina M, Tanner M, Lee Sim BK, Hoffman SL, Gottardo R, Daubenberger C, Stuart K.
      Whole blood transcriptome changes following controlled human malaria infection in malaria pre-exposed volunteers correlate with parasite prepatent period.
      PLoS One., 2018 Jun 19 : 13(6)e0199392. PMCID:PMC6007927
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29920562
    • Cestari I, Anupama A, Stuart K.
      Inositol polyphosphate multikinase regulation of Trypanosoma brucei life stage development.
      Mol Biol Cell., 2018 May 1 : 29(9)1137-1152. PMCID:PMC5921579
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29514930
    • Carnes J, McDermott SM, Stuart K.
      RNase III Domain of KREPB9 and KREPB10 Association with Editosomes in Trypanosoma brucei.
      mSphere., 2018 Jan 17 : 3(1)pii:e00585-17. PMCID:PMC5770545
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29359194
    • Moretti NS, Cestari I, Anupama A, Stuart K, Schenkman S.
      Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Lysine Acetylation in Trypanosomes.
      J Proteome Res., 2018 Jan 5 : 17(1)374-385.
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29168382
    • McDermott SM, Stuart K.
      The essential functions of KREPB4 are developmentally distinct and required for endonuclease association with editosomes.
      RNA., 2017 Nov. : 23(11)1672-1684. PMCID:PMC5648035
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28802260
    • HIPC-CHI Signatures Project Team; HIPC-I Consortium.
      Multicohort analysis reveals baseline transcriptional predictors of influenza vaccination responses.
      Sci Immunol., 2017 Aug 25 : 2(14)pii: eaal4656. PMCID:PMC5800877
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28842433
    • Mpina M, Maurice NJ, Yajima M, Slichter CK, Miller HW, Dutta M, McElrath MJ, Stuart KD, De Rosa SC, McNevin JP, Linsley PS, Abdulla S, Tanner M, Hoffman SL, Gottardo R, Daubenberger CA, Prlic M.
      Controlled Human Malaria Infection Leads to Long-Lasting Changes in Innate and Innate-like Lymphocyte Populations.
      J Immunol., 2017 Jul 1 : 199(1)107-118. PMCID:PMC5528886
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28576979
    • Carnes J, McDermott S, Anupama A, Oliver BG, Sather DN, Stuart K.
      In vivo cleavage specificity of Trypanosoma brucei editosome endonucleases.
      Nucleic Acids Res. , 2017 May 5 : 45(8)4667-4686. PMCID:PMC5416837
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28334821
    • McDermott SM, Luo J, Carnes J, Ranish JA, Stuart K.
      The Architecture of Trypanosoma brucei editosomes.
      Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A., 2016 Oct 18 : 113(42)E6476-E6485. PMCID:PMC5081628
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27708162
    • McDermott SM, Carnes J, Stuart K.
      Identification by Random Mutagenesis of Functional Domains in KREPB5 That Differentially Affect RNA Editing between Life Cycle Stages of Trypanosoma brucei.
      Mol Cell Biol., 2015 Dec. : 35(23)3945-61. PMCID:PMC4628071
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26370513
    • McDermott SM, Guo X, Carnes J, Stuart K.
      Differential Editosome Protein Function between Life Cycle Stages of Trypanosoma brucei.
      J Biol Chem., 2015 Oct 9 : 290(41)24914-31. PMCID:PMC4599000
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26304125
    • Li Q, Leija C, Rijo-Ferreira F, Chen J, Cestari I, Stuart K, Tu BP, Phillips MA.
      GMP synthase is essential for viability and infectivity of Trypanosoma brucei despite a redundant purine salvage pathway.
      Mol Microbiol., 2015 Sept. : 51006-20. PMCID:PMC4550530
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26043892
    • Cestari I, Stuart K.
      Inositol phosphate pathway controls transcription of telomeric expression sites in trypanosomes.
      Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A., 2015 May 26 : 112(21)E2803-12. PMCID:PMC4450425
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25964327
    • Phan IQ, Davies DR, Moretti NS, Shanmugam D, Cestari I, Anupama A, Fairman JW, Edwards TE, Stuart K, Schenkman S, Myler PJ.
      Iron superoxide dismutases in eukaryotic pathogens: new insights from Apicomplexa and Trypanosoma structures.
      Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun., 2015 May : 71(Pt 5)615-21. PMCID:PMC4427173
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25961325
    • Stuart K.
      Personal reflections on RNA: an emphasis on trypanosomes.
      RNA., 2015 April : 21(4)745-6. PMCID:PMC4371360
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25780218
    • Carnes J, Anupama A, Balmer O, Jackson A, Lewis M, Brown R, Cestari I, Desquesnes M, Gendrin C, Hertz-Fowler C, Imamura H, Ivens A, Kořený L, Lai DH, MacLeod A, McDermott SM, Merritt C, Monnerat S, Moon W, Myler P, Phan I, Ramasamy G, Sivam D, Lun ZR, Lukeš J, Stuart K, Schnaufer A.
      Genome and phylogenetic analyses of Trypanosoma evansi reveal extensive similarity to T. bruceiand multiple independent origins for dyskinetoplasty.
      PLoS Negl Trop Dis., 2015 Jan 8 : 9(1)e3404. PMCID:PMC4288722
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25568942
    • Carnes J, Lerch M, Kurtz I, Stuart K.
      Bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei do not require mRPN1 for gRNA processing.
      RNA., 2015 Jan. : 21(1)28-35. PMCID:PMC4274635
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25404564
    • Carnes J, Lerch M, Kurtz I, Stuart K
      Bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei do not require mRPN1 for gRNA processing.
      25404564 RNA (New York, N.Y.), 2015 Jan. : 21(1)28-35 PMCID:PMC4274635
    • Demir O, Labaied M, Merritt C, Stuart K, Amaro RE.
      Computer-aided discovery of Trypanosoma brucei RNA-editing terminal uridylyl transferase 2 inhibitors.
      Chem Biol Drug Des., 2014 Aug. : 84(2)131-9. PMCID:PMC4317284
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24903413
    • Sekar A, Merritt C, Baugh L, Stuart K, Myler PJ.
      Tb927.10.6900 encodes the glucosyltransferase involved in synthesis of base J in Trypanosoma brucei.
      Mol Biochem Parasitol., 2014 Aug. : 196(1)9-11. PMCID:PMC4206709
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25064607

    Other Publications

    • Cestari I, Stuart K.
      Transcriptional Regulation of Telomeric Expression Sites and Antigenic Variation in Trypanosomes.
      Curr Genomics., 2018 Feb. : 19(2)119-132. Review. PMCID:PMC5814960
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29491740
    • Merritt C, Silva LE, Tanner AL, Stuart K, Pollastri MP.
      Kinases as druggable targets in trypanosomatid protozoan parasites.
      Chem Rev., 2014 Nov 26 : 114(22)11280-304. Review. PMCID:PMC4254031
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26443079

  • Research Funding

    Grant Title Grantor Amount Award Date
    Immune Responses to Malaria, HIV and SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Immunization - U19AI128914 NIH/NIAID $10,471,529 July 2022 - April 2027
    Collective Responses to Malaria Vaccination - U01AI165455 NIH/NIAID $3,500,000 Feb. 2022 - Jan. 2027
    Mitochondrial DNA of Normal and Mutant Trypanosomes - R01AI014102 NIH/NIAID $4,535,937 Total Sept. 1978 - April 2023

Overview

Research Description

Research in the Stuart Lab is focused on protozoan pathogens and the diseases that they cause. These include malaria which is caused by Plasmodium parasites and Human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis that are caused by three Trypanosomatid parasites. The lab investigates molecular and cellular processes of the parasites and immune responses to infection and vaccines in order to develop drugs, vaccines and diagnostics that are needed. Read more about the Stuart Lab.

Research Focus Area

Biotechnology, Chagas Disease, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Global Health, Host-Pathogen Interaction, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Leishmaniasis, Malaria, Systems Biology, Trypanosomiasis