Life-changing research transforming parasites into needed vaccines earns Abhay Satoskar, MD, PhD, admission into AAAS fellowship
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recognizes distinguished efforts and advancements across the scientific field.
Abhay Satoskar, MD, PHD, professor of Experimental Pathology and vice chair for Research in The Ohio State University Department of Pathology has been elected to the 2025 class of AAAS Fellows for his esteemed contributions to the field of medicine, particularly his innovative vaccine research and advancements in combating parasitic skin diseases. This honor is one of the most prestigious accomplishments a scientist can receive and honors his distinguished contributions to the field of parasitology, particularly mechanisms of immunity and immune evasion in leishmaniasis and development of novel therapies and vaccines for this disease.
Carol R. Bradford, MD, MS, FACS, dean of The Ohio State University College of Medicine says this accolade honoring Dr. Satoskar’s innovative scholarship and research is richly deserved and earned.
“This honor is one of the most prestigious accomplishments a scientist can receive as fellows are elected by their academic peers and represent a breadth of expertise,” Dr. Bradford says. “Dr. Satoskar is receiving well-deserved recognition for his novel research and service from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.”
Dr. Satoskar’s research studies include immunology and infectious diseases with a focus on parasitic immunology. He is currently in phase I of human trials for his vaccine development to treat leishmaniasis — a skin condition that affects 12 million people per year and is caused by the Leishmania major parasite. It is common in tropical parts of the world; however, due to climate change, it is beginning to enter southern Texas.
“As the warmth moves up toward the United States, the disease will move up,” Dr. Satoskar says. “We refined the concept using modern technology, CRISPR, a tool that allows for gene modification, to genetically engineer a parasite with no ability to infect but which can still trigger immunity for leishmaniasis.”
Dr. Satoskar says the parasites are unable to proliferate, so they die. But they persist in the body for eight or nine months, which is long enough to generate acquired immunity.
Since his animal trials have all proven successful, he and his team now begin human trials. One will take place in the United States, a non-epidemic country, and the other in an epidemic country, likely in India. His team consists of scientists from seven countries around the world.
A much more severe form of the disease, visceral leishmaniasis, affects organs and is fatal if left untreated. The team has been using the same CRISPR technique to mutate the genome of the Leishmania donovani strain that causes visceral leishmaniasis, and preliminary data suggest a safe vaccine could be on the horizon.
Dr. Satoskar recently received a $4.2 million grant from the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund to continue to lead this project as he works alongside researchers at Nagasaki University and an international health research organization based in Bangladesh.
Congratulations to Dr. Satoskar on his election to this distinguished honorary fellowship as he creates renowned achievements toward a treatment for a globally devastating disease that disproportionally affects developing nations.
