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David Horn (biologist)

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David Horn
Born
Shoreham-by-Sea, England
Alma materUniversity of Dundee
Known forResearch on the African trypanosome, Trypanosoma brucei
AwardsWilliam Trager Award for Basic Parasitology (2019)

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2017)

C.A. Wright Memorial Medal (2016)

Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Awards (2013 and 2019)
Websitehttp://www.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk/groups/david-horn/

David Horn FRSE, is a Welcome Trust Senior Investigator, professor of parasite molecular biology, deputy head of the Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery and deputy director of the Welcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research in the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee. His research is focused on antigenic variation, drug action and resistance and the application of genetic screens to African trypanosomes: parasitic protists that cause sleeping sickness or Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) and the livestock disease, nagana.[1][2]

Education and career

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Horn was educated at King’s College London, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in 1989. He was awarded a PhD in molecular biology from University College London in 1993. Then he joined The Rockefeller University, US, as a postdoctoral associate from 1993 to 1997. Between 1997 and 2013 he held various positions at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before joining the faculty at the University of Dundee.[1][2]

Research

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Horn’s research aims to understand the genetics and molecular biology of parasites responsible for Sleeping sickness, or Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) as well as Chagas’ disease and leishmaniasis. He and his team have identified a protein termed ‘VSG exclusion’ or VEX-complex.[3][4] This is responsible for the parasite’s antigenic variability as it permits the change of the surface protein coat on the parasite which permits the parasite to shield itself from the host’s immune system.  

His team has also developed a high-throughput RNA Interference Target sequencing (RIT-seq) approach, which allows for the exploitation of genome sequence data, to help prioritise drug targets.[5] This research is critical as there are no vaccines and, left untreated, sleeping sickness is typically fatal.

Horn and his team have discovered over 50 genes connected to drug action and resistance.[6] Of these, they identified a gene which explains arsenic-based drug resistance in patients from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. .[7]

Awards and honours

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David Horn was awarded the C.A. Wright Memorial Medal from the British Society for Parasitology in 2016.[8]

He was elected a Fellow of Scotland’s National Academy by The Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017.[9][10]

He received a £2.1 million Investigator Award from the Wellcome Trust in 2019.[11]

He was awarded the William Trager Award by the American Society of Tropical Medicine in 2019[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b DHorn (2013-08-30). "Professor David Horn FRSE". School of Life Sciences. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  2. ^ a b "David Horn Lab". www.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-02-12. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  3. ^ "Protein discovery could pave way for parasite research". School of Life Sciences. 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  4. ^ Faria, Joana; Glover, Lucy; Hutchinson, Sebastian; Boehm, Cordula; Field, Mark C.; Horn, David (2019-07-09). "Monoallelic expression and epigenetic inheritance sustained by a Trypanosoma brucei variant surface glycoprotein exclusion complex". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 3023. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.3023F. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10823-8. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6617441. PMID 31289266.
  5. ^ Alsford, S.; Turner, D. J.; Obado, S. O.; Sanchez-Flores, A.; Glover, L.; Berriman, M.; Hertz-Fowler, C.; Horn, D. (2011-06-01). "High-throughput phenotyping using parallel sequencing of RNA interference targets in the African trypanosome". Genome Research. 21 (6): 915–924. doi:10.1101/gr.115089.110. ISSN 1088-9051. PMC 3106324. PMID 21363968.
  6. ^ Alsford, Sam; Eckert, Sabine; Baker, Nicola; Glover, Lucy; Sanchez-Flores, Alejandro; Leung, Ka Fai; Turner, Daniel J.; Field, Mark C.; Berriman, Matthew; Horn, David (2012). "High-throughput decoding of antitrypanosomal drug efficacy and resistance". Nature. 482 (7384): 232–236. Bibcode:2012Natur.482..232A. doi:10.1038/nature10771. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 3303116. PMID 22278056.
  7. ^ Horn, David A. "Scopus- Author details". www.scopus.com. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  8. ^ "David Horn to receive C.A. Wright Memorial Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Parasitology". School of Life Sciences. 2016-02-22. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  9. ^ "Two new RSE Fellows for the School". School of Life Sciences. 2017-02-15. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  10. ^ "Professor David Horn FRSE". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 2020-08-24. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  11. ^ "£2.1 million Wellcome Investigator award for Dundee scientist". School of Life Sciences. 2019-09-06. Archived from the original on 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  12. ^ "Award recognises 'transformative' research". School of Life Sciences. 2019-11-20. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
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