ellisresearch

Professor John Ellis


Professor John Ellis Phone: +61 2 9514 4161 Fax: +61 2 9514 8206 John.Ellis@uts.edu.au Academic Qualifications BSc (Hons) in Physiology and Biochemistry (Reading University) PhD, Molecular biology of Leishmania (Livepool University) DSc, Biology of the cyst-forming coccidia (Liverpool University) Post graduate certificate in Teaching and Learning (Higher Education) (UTS) Teaching Activities I am the subject coordinator for the third year subject Molecular Biology 2, which focuses on gene structure and function and the discipline of genomics and functional genomics. I also am involved in teaching parasitology at the introductory level within Microbiology. Over the last 15 years, I have supervised and graduated approx. 20 research students within all areas of parasitology, molecular biology, immunology, cell biology, diagnosis and vaccines. Research Interests and Activities I am interested in many areas of veterinary and medical parasitology with a special focus on applied, practical aspects such as development and validation of new diagnostic tests and vaccines for parasites such as Neospora caninum and Dientamoeba fragilis. My current interest is the elucidation of the mechanisms of animal responses to infection by N. caninum using microarray technology/mining of genome sequence data. I am keen to foster external research collaborations in the general area of infectious diseases and to supervise research students in the workplace. Research topics for Honours and Postgraduate Students Immunity and diagnosis of Neospora caninum in cattle (with Dr M. Reichel) Development of vaccines to Neospora caninum and abortion in cattle Role of wildlife in the life cycle of Neospora caninum (with Prof P. Windsor, D. Jenkins, P. Fleming, Pest Animal CRC) Thiol metabolism of Haemonchus contortus (with Prof. M. Davey, UTS) Parasites and inflammatory diseases (with Professor C. Geczy, UNSW) The role of parasites in irritable bowel syndrome and the development of new diagnostic tests for gastrointestinal parasite infections such as Dientiamoeba fragilis (with Professor’s Harkness and Marriott, Dr Stark, St. Vincent’s Hospital Sydney) Phage therapy and bacterial multidrug resistance (with Dr Tony Smithyman, Special Phage Services Ltd, Sydney) Research staff and students Sarwat Al Qassab (PhD student) Sandra Morales (PhD student) Rashmi Fodedar (MSc student) Selected publications: [last 5 years only] Noyes, H., Pratlong, F., Chance, M., Ellis, J., Lanotte, G. and Dedet, J-P. (2001) A previously unclassified trypanosomatid responsible for human cutaneous lesions in Martinique (French West Indies) is the most divergent member of the genus Leishmania ss. Parasitology 124, 17-24. Reichel, M.P. and Ellis, J.T. (2002) Control options for Neospora caninum in cattle. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 50, 86-92. Quinn, H.E., Miller, C.M.D., Ryce, C., Windsor, P.A.W. and Ellis, J.T. (2002) Characterisation of an outbred pregnant mouse model of Neospora caninum infection. Journal of Parasitology 88, 691-696. Miller, C.M.D., Quinn, H.E., Windsor, P.A.W. and Ellis, J.T. (2002) Characterisation of the first Australian isolate of bovine Neospora caninum. Australian Veterinary Journal 80, 19-24. Quinn, H.E., Ellis, J.T. and Smith, N.C. (2002) Neospora caninum: another protozoan parasite that causes immune-mediated failure of pregnancy? Trends in Parasitology 18, 391-394. Dubey, J.P., Barr, B.C., Barta, J.R., Bjerkås, I., Björkman, C., Blagburn, B.L., Bowman, D.D., Buxton, D., Ellis, J.T., Gottstein, B., Hemphill, A., Hill, D.E., Howe, D.K., Jenkins, M.C., Kobayashi, Y., Koudela, B., Marsh, A.E., Mattsson, J.G, McAllister, M.M., Modry, D., Omata, Y ., Sibley, L.D., Speer, C.A., Trees, A.J., Uggla, A., Upton, S.J., Williams, D.J.L., Lindsay, D.S. (2002). Redescription of Neospora caninum Dubey, Carpenter, Speer, Topper, Uggla, 1988 and its differentiation from related coccidians especially Isospora bigemina and Hammondia heydorni. International Journal for Parasitology 32, 929-946. Ellis, J.T. and Pomroy, W.E. (2003) Hammondia heydorni in the faeces of a greyhound. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 51, 38-39. Siverajah, S., Ryce, C., Morrison, D.A. and Ellis, J. T. (2003) Characterisation of an alpha tubulin gene sequence from Neospora caninum and Hammondia heydorni, and their comparison to homologous genes from Apicomplexa. Parasitology 126, 1-9. Ellis, J.T., Morrison, D.A. and Reichel, M.P. (2003) Genomics and its impact on Parasitology and the potential for development of new parasite control methods. DNA & Cell Biology 22, 395-403. Morrison, D.A. and Ellis, J.T. (2003) The design and analysis of microarrays. DNA & Cell Biology 22, 357-394. Mohammed, O.B., Davies, A.J., Hussein, H.S., Daszak, P. and Ellis, J.T. (2003) Hammondia heydorni from the arabian mountain gazelle and red fox in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Parasitology 89, 535-539. Quinn, H.E., Windsor, P.A., Kirkland, P.D. and Ellis, J.T. (2004) An outbreak of abortion in a dairy herd associated with Neospora caninum and bovine pestivirus infection. Australian Veterinary Journal 82, 99-101. Vonlaufen, N., Guetg, N., Naguleswaran, A., Muller, N., BjÖrkman, C., Schares, G., von Blumroeder, D., Ellis, J. and Hemphill, A. (2004) In vitro induction of Neospora caninum bradyzoites in vero cells reveals differential antigen expression, localization, and host-cell recognition of tachyzoites and bradyzoites. Infection and Immunity 72, 576-583. Ellis, J.T., Sinclair, D. and Morrison, D.A. (2004) Microarrays and stage conversion in Toxoplasma gondii. Trends in Parasitology 20, 288-295. Quinn, H.E., Miller, C.M.D. and Ellis, J.T. (2004) IL-4 modifies the immune response following gestational Neospora caninum infection. International Journal for Parasitology 34, 723-732. Stark, D., Beebe, N., Marriott, D., Ellis, J.T. and Harkness, J. (2005) PCR for the detection of Dientamoeba fragilis. International Journal for Parasitology 35, 57-62. Hudson, A. and Ellis, J.T. (2005) Treatment of Neospora caninum with a Mycoplasma removal agent results in the selection of a mutant population of tachyzoites. Parasitology 130, 607-610. Lei, Y., Davey, M. and Ellis, J.T. (2005) Autofluorescent properties of the cystic stages of Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii. Journal of Parasitology 91, 17-23. Hall, C., Reichel, M.P. and Ellis, J.T. (2005) Neospora abortion in dairy cattle: diagnosis, mode of transmission and control. Veterinary Parasitology 128, 231-241. Miller, C.M.D., Quinn, H., Reichel, M.P. and Ellis, J.T. (2005) Reduction in transplacental transmission of Neospora caninum in outbred mice by vaccination. International Journal for Parasitology 35, 821-828. Lei, Y., Birch, D., Davey, M. and Ellis J.T. (2005) Subcellular fractionation and molecular characterization of the pellicle and plasmalemma of Neospora caninum. Parasitology 131, 467-475. Stark, D., Beebe, N., Marriott, D., Ellis, J.T. and Harkness, J. (2005) A prospective study on the prevalence, genotyping and clinical relevance of Dientamoeba fragilis infections in an Australian population. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 43, 2718-2723. Lei, Y., Birch, D., Davey, M. and Ellis J.T. (2005) Attachment and invasion of Neospora caninum to fibroblast and epithelial cells in vitro. Parasitology 131, 583-594. Abel, J., Schares, G., Orzesko, K., Gasser, R.B. and Ellis, J.T. (2005) Hammondia isolated from dogs and foxes are genetically distinct. Parasitology 132, 187-192. Stark, D., Beebe, N., Marriott, D., Ellis, J. and Harkness, J. (2006) Evaluation of three diagnostic methods, including real-time PCR, for the detection of Dientamoeba fragilis in stool specimens. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 44, 232-235. Stark, D., Beebe, N., Marriott, D., Ellis, J. and Harkness, J. (2006) Dientamoebiasis: a review on the clinical importance and recent advances. Trends in Parasitology 22, 92-96. Hall, C., Reichel, M.P. and Ellis, J.T. (2006) Performance characteristics of two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for the detection of antibodies to Neospora caninum in the serum of cattle. Veterinary Parasitology 140, 61-68. Reichel, M.P. and Ellis, J.T. (2006) If control of Neospora caninum is technically feasible-does it make economic sense? Veterinary Parasitology, in press. Available online 7 August 2006. Stark, D, Beebe, N., Marriott, D., Ellis, J., and Harkness, J. (2006) Dientamoeba fragilis as a cause of traveller’s diarrhoea: report of 7 cases. Journal of Travel Medicine, in press. Copy available. Hall, C., Reichel, M.P. and Ellis, J.T. (2006) Prevalence of Neospora caninum infection in Australian (NSW) dairy cattle estimated by a newly validated ELISA for milk. Veterinary Parasitology, in press. Available online 31 July 2006. Reichel, M.P., Ellis, J.T. and J. P. Dubey (2006) Neosporosis and hammondiosis in dogs. Journal of Small Animal Practice, in press. Copy available.