James Collins, Ph.D. Associate Professor Endowed Title Jan and Bob Bullock Distinguished Chair for Science Education; Jane and Bud Smith Distinguished Chair in Medicine; Rita C. and William P. Clements, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research School Medical School Department Pharmacology Graduate Programs Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics, Development and Disease Biography Jim Collins received his BS in Biology from Southeast Missouri State University (2003) and PhD from Washington University in St. Louis (2008). He did postdoctoral work with Phillip Newmark (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the basic biology parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. These parasites infect more than 200 million of the world's poorest people, causing morbidity that rivals global killers including Malaria and TB. Despite their devastating global impact, only a single drug is available to treat schistosome infection. As a postdoc Dr. Collins developed new functional genomic tools to study these worms and using these tools discovered a novel population of stem cells that are likely key to parasite survival inside their human host. By studying these stem cells, and applying large-scale functional genomic approaches, his work aims to develop new therapeutic avenues to combat these devastating parasites. Research Interest Drug Discovery Germ Cell Development Immunology Parasitology Regeneration Stem Cell Biology Publications Featured Publications A male-derived nonribosomal peptide pheromone controls female schistosome development. Chen R, Wang J, Gradinaru I, Vu HS, Geboers S, Naidoo J, Ready JM, Williams NS, DeBerardinis RJ, Ross EM, Collins JJ, Cell 2022 Apr 185 9 1506-1520.e17 The Schistosoma mansoni nuclear receptor FTZ-F1 maintains esophageal gland function via transcriptional regulation of meg-8.3. Romero AA, Cobb SA, Collins JNR, Kliewer SA, Mangelsdorf DJ, Collins JJ, PLoS Pathog 2021 Dec 17 12 e1010140 Large-scale RNAi screening uncovers therapeutic targets in the parasite Schistosoma mansoni. Wang J, Paz C, Padalino G, Coghlan A, Lu Z, Gradinaru I, Collins JNR, Berriman M, Hoffmann KF, Collins JJ, Science 2020 09 369 6511 1649-1653 A single-cell RNA-seq atlas of Schistosoma mansoni identifies a key regulator of blood feeding. Wendt G, Zhao L, Chen R, Liu C, O'Donoghue AJ, Caffrey CR, Reese ML, Collins JJ, Science 2020 09 369 6511 1644-1649 Systematically improved in vitro culture conditions reveal new insights into the reproductive biology of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. Wang J, Chen R, Collins JJ, PLoS Biol 2019 05 17 5 e3000254 Flatworm-specific transcriptional regulators promote the specification of tegumental progenitors in Schistosoma mansoni Wendt GR, Collins JN, Pei J, Pearson MS, Bennett HM, Loukas A, Berriman M, Grishin NV, Collins JJ III eLife 2018 e33221 Tissue Degeneration following Loss of Schistosoma mansoni cbp1 Is Associated with Increased Stem Cell Proliferation and Parasite Death In Vivo. Collins JN, Collins JJ PLoS Pathog. 2016 Nov 12 11 e1005963 Stem cell progeny contribute to the schistosome host-parasite interface. Collins JJ, Wendt GR, Iyer H, Newmark PA Elife 2016 Mar 5 Adult somatic stem cells in the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. Collins JJ, Wang B, Lambrus BG, Tharp ME, Iyer H, Newmark PA Nature 2013 Feb 494 7438 476-9 An atlas for Schistosoma mansoni organs and life-cycle stages using cell type-specific markers and confocal microscopy. Collins JJ, King RS, Cogswell A, Williams DL, Newmark PA PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2011 5 3 e1009 Results 1-10 of 20 1 2 Next Last
