Name: Paul Franck ADJOU MOUMOUNI
Affiliation: Research Unit for Functional Genomics
Position: Foreign Visiting Researcher
Term: April 2019 to March 2020
Host researcher: Assistant Prof. Rika UMEMIYA-SHIRAFUJI
Circumstances of application:
I received my Phd degree researching on tick and tick-borne pathogens and later worked as Post doc at the NRCPD from 2012 to 2019. The center has shaped me from a clinical veterinarian to a seasoned epidemiologist with deep understanding of epidemiology, diagnostic and control of ticks and the diseases they cause. After completing my Post doc, I wanted to complete my skills by getting more knowledge on tick biology. The NRCPD is worldwide known for its expertise in ticks and tick-borne diseases (T&TBD) research, hence it was definitely the best place for me to get such knowledge. The call for Visiting Foreign Researcher positions offered me the opportunity to reach my goal. I applied, was selected and could join the team of Assit. Prof Umemiya-Shirafuji who is well known for her groundbreaking works on tick biology.
Research activity in NRCPD:
Currently, researches on anti-tick vaccines are one the leading strategies for T&TBD control. My project aimed at identifying and characterizing a tick antigen that could be an efficient anti-tick vaccine for livestock. I focused on Haemaphysalis longicornis, an extremely harmful tick species widely distributed in eastern Asia, Australia and New Zealand and for which laboratory colonies have been maintained at the NRCPD. ATAQ, a recently identified tick protective antigen is the vaccine candidate I selected and researched on. During this year as Visiting Foreign Researcher, I characterized for the first time H. longicornis ATAQ protein (HlATAQ). The full length gene, contained a 1965 bp-long ORF coding for a predicted amino acid sequence 654 long with a putative signal peptide, transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. Hl ATAQ showed 6 full and 1 partial EGF-like domains and its closest Blastp match was Hyalomma marginatum marginatum ATAQ (53.43%). Apart of that project I also took part in the activities of the Tick biobank project of the NRCPD, such as tick hunting, tick vaccine evaluation and maintenance of tick colonies.
Future prospects:
Studying and working at the NRCPD gave me enough knowledge on pathogens and diseases in general and tick biology, tick-borne pathogens and diseases in particular. I had the chance to work with talented researchers from different countries and culture. I have been exposed, through seminars, symposium and conferences to a wide range of scientific topics and this has made me confident to effectively face challenges related to the research, control of animal and human health problems. As human I have grown up to a world citizen, thanks to the international community that works in the NRCPD. This institution gave me the chance to join an international network of researchers that I am sure will be of use in the next step of my career.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisors and mentors: Assistant Professor UMEMIYA-SHIRAFUJI Rika, Professor XUENAN Xuan and Professor SUZUKI Hiroshi. I would also like to thanks the members of the Host Defense and Functional Genomics research groups, and all the staff of NRCPD for their friendship and support.