James Collins, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments 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. Neglected tropical diseases disproportionately affect the world’s poorest populations, perpetuating cycles of disease and poverty. Among the most devastating of these diseases is schistosomiasis, a disease caused by blood-dwelling parasitic worms, known as schistosomes, that cause death and morbidity in over 200 million people globally. By developing modern molecular tools, Jim Collins endeavors to understand how these parasites thrive and reproduce in their human hosts. By unraveling fundamental biological processes in these parasites, he aims to identify vulnerabilities that could pave the way for the development of a new generation of therapies. Research Interest Drug Discovery Germ Cell Development Immunology Parasitology Regeneration Stem Cell Biology Publications Featured Publications Convergent evolution of a genotoxic stress response in a parasite-specific p53 homolog. Wendt GR, Shiroor DA, Adler CE, Collins JJ, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022 Sep 119 37 e2205201119 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 Results 1-10 of 22 1 2 3 Next Last
