Name: Juan Mosqueda
Affiliation: Autonomous University of Queretaro
Position: Professor
Term: May 2023 – August 2023
Host researcher: Prof. Shinichiro Kawazu, Associate Professor. ASADA Masahito
Circumstances of application:
We I started a sabbatical leave this year, I started to look for positions in foreign institutions. I decided to come to the NRCPD because it congregates a large community of scientists working on protozoan diseases, with an emphasis on Babesia and other Aplicomplexa protozoa. A community like the one in NRCPD is nowadays difficult to find elsewhere. Additionally, my research focus on the characterization of antigens to be included in vaccine development, so working with Professor Kawazu, and Associate Professor Asada was ideal as they have the knowledge and expertise in this area. I also had the opportunity to work with Professor Yokoyama, who is a representative for WOAH for babesiosis in Japan and has all the experience necessary to reinforce this project. I also wanted to work with Professor Xuan and Associate Professor Umemiya-Shirafuji. Even though the stay was short, but the NRCPD is ideal for my project. Finally, the presence of undergraduate students, the graduate students and the postdoctoral and visiting scientists make this stay more productive and the active scientific discussion is very valuable.
Research activity in NRCPD:
I was very pleased I could accomplish most of the goals we set up for this project. I could evaluate the presence of cross-reactive antibodies for conserved antigens in several Babesia and Theileria species with confocal microscopy studies on intraerythrocytic stages and to evaluate their potential to block parasite invasion by doing in vitro neutralization assays.
Future prospects:
I am very pleased with the results I obtained and the collaborations we had during my stay. Last year the Autonomus University of Queretaro, where I work, signed a MOU with the NRCPD, so I plan to continue with this collaboration by 1) finding ways to bring graduate students for short-term visits, 2) finding funding opportunities for joint proposals and 3) publish the results of this stay in international journals. I had a pleasant and productive stay and I hope we can continue this collaborative exchange in the future.