UMCUniversity of Massachusetts Chan Medical School · Biology
The Nematode Nexus
Raffi V Aroian · Worcester, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Raffi V Aroian's lab focuses on developing new treatments for parasitic nematodes, which are significant contributors to disease and malnutrition globally. The lab uses proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that are effective against these parasites, particularly when combined with current anthelmintic drugs. The goal is to find synergistic combinations of these proteins with small-molecule drugs to enhance efficacy and reduce the likelihood of drug resistance.
Bacillus thuringiensisanthelminticsparasitic nematodessynergistic drug combinationsgastrointestinal nematodesdrug resistancevaccine developmentmolecular biologyagriculture
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate synergistic interactions between Bacillus thuringiensis crystal proteins and existing small molecule anthelmintics.
AIM 02Analyze the sensitivity of nematodes resistant to current drugs to novel Cry protein combinations.
AIM 03Optimize formulations for improved efficacy of Cry protein anthelmintics against gastrointestinal nematodes.
Skills the Lab Values
PCRcell culturemouse modelslarval development assaystranscriptomicsprotein purificationsynergy testingbioinformaticsformulation development
Output against the department
Publications133bottom 47% of dept.544th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations7.0kbottom 48% of dept.535th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.