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Tonkin Lab

Acting Division Head
10 members

About the lab

The phylum Apicomplexa is a large group of related parasites that inflict an enormous burden on society. Most notable members include the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium spp, Cryptosporidium, responsible for severe diarrhoea and Toxoplasma, one of the most common human pathogens and the cause of congenital birth defects, progressive blindness and neurological dysfunction.

All apicomplexan parasites have a unique lifestyle in which they must replicate within human cells. This requires their ability to ‘invade’ target cells and thwart our body’s defence mechanisms during their growth.

Our lab aims to understand the molecular processes responsible for parasite invasion and intracellular survival and thus provide novel targets for therapeutic design to treat apicomplexan-caused diseases.

We are also considering contributions of the parasite infections to progressive blindness, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Lab research projects

Lab team

Our lab consists of students and postdocs who have synergistic interests in different experimental techniques. This provides a highly collaborative environment to deeply understand fundamental aspects of apicomplexan parasite pathogenicity. We also closely work with other labs in the division and several international groups in order to translate our findings in Toxoplasma into understanding pathogenesis in the malaria parasite.

10 members
Amber Simonpietri
PhD Student
Dr Simona Seizova
Research Officer
Lena Chng
PhD Student
Ishrat Zaman
Honours Student
Abdul Alammar
PhD Student
Amalie Abewardana Jayawickrama
PhD Student
Ushma Ruparel
Research Officer
Sai Lekkala
Research Assistant
Dr Alex Uboldi
Senior Research Officer
Interested in supporting our research?

Your support will help WEHI’s researchers make discoveries and find treatments to ensure healthier, longer lives for you and your loved ones.

Contact our friendly team to find out how you can help.