Contact
Professor, School of Public Health
- yanow@ualberta.ca
- Phone
- (780) 289-2995
- Address
-
6-032b Katz Group Centre For Research
11315 - 87 Ave NWEdmonton ABT6G 2H5
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Malaria pregnancy vaccines diagnostics
About
I am a Professor of Global Health in the School of Public Health and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
Research
My research program is focused on various aspects of malaria from basic pathogenesis to translational development of vaccines. A major focus of our work is on the interactions between malaria parasites of different species and the host immune system, particularly during infection in pregnancy. From our field work with colleagues in Uganda, Colombia and Brazil, one of our major discoveries was that exposure to Plasmodium vivax can elicit antibodies against P. falciparum in pregnancy, which may lead to improved birth outcomes. My team is now studying the mechanism of cross-species immunity with a major goal to exploit these findings for vaccine development. We also study host-parasite interactions in the placenta microenvironment. We are specifically interested in the roles of different proteoglycans in mediating parasite sequestration in the placenta.
Scholarly Activities
Research - Developing a cross-species malaria vaccine
The goal of this project is to exploit natural cross-immunity between P. vivax and P. falciparum antigens that we observed in Colombia and Brazil to develop a vaccine against P. falciparum placental malaria. We are mapping the epitopes that induce cross-reactive antibodies and employing synthetic chemistry, structural biology, and computational modeling strategies to design vaccine candidates. We test different vaccine platforms (subunit vaccines and peptide- decorated liposomes) along with various adjuvant formulations to optimize vaccine responses. Collaborators: John Adams, University of South Florida; Eliana Arango and Amanda Maestre, U de Antioquia, Colombia; Michael Good, Griffith University, Australia.
Research - Pathogenesis of placental malaria
We study the effects of parasite cytoadhesion on the physiology of the placenta. We are interested in the proteoglycan receptors that bind to infected red blood cells in the placenta and how they are regulated during infection. We also collaborate on studies of parasite extracellular vesicles in placental malaria. Collaborators: Denise Hemmings, Lara Mahal, and Lisa Willis, U of Alberta; Eliana Arango and Amanda Maestre, U de Antioquia, Colombia; Melisa Gualdrón-López, McGill University; Hernando del Portillo and Carmen Fernandez at ISGlobal, Barcelona; Bernard Kanoi, Mount Kenya University.
Featured Publications
Grewal, S., Hedge, N., and Yanow, S.K.
Frontiers in Immunology. 2024 September; 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1463931
Stephanie K Yanow 1, Daniel Ferrer Vinals 2
Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2024 July; 10.1016/S1473-3099(24)00405-5
Michael F Good 1, Stephanie K Yanow 2
Trends in Parasitology. 2023 November; 10.1016/j.pt.2023.08.006
Anna Maria van Eijk 1, Kasia Stepniewska 2, Jenny Hill 3, Steve M Taylor 4, Stephen J Rogerson 5, Gilles Cottrell 6, R Matthew Chico 7, Julie R Gutman 8, Halidou Tinto 9, Holger W Unger 10, Stephanie K Yanow 11, Steven R Meshnick 12, Feiko O Ter Kuile 3, Alfredo Mayor 13; Subpatent Malaria in Pregnancy Group
Lancet Global Health. 2023 July; 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00194-8
Uwa Iyamu 1, Daniel Ferrer Vinals 1, Bernard Tornyigah 1, Eliana Arango 2 3, Rakesh Bhat 4, Trixie Rae Adra 4, Simranjit Grewal 5, Kimberly Martin 1, Amanda Maestre 2, Michael Overduin 4, Bart Hazes 5, Stephanie K Yanow 1 5
Front Cell Infect Microbiol . 2023 June; 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1202276
Mitran, C.J., Higa, L., Good, M.F., and Yanow, S.K.
Vaccines. 2020 January; 8 (3) 10.3390/vaccines8030392
Gnidehou, S., and Yanow, S.K.
Trends in Parasitology. 2020 January; 10.1016/j.pt.2020.09.012
Mitran, C.J., Mena, A., Gnidehou, S., Banman, S., Arango, E., Lima, B.A.S., Lugo, H., Ganesan, A., Salanti, A., Mbonye, A.K., Ntumngia, F., Barakat, K., Adams, J.H., Kano, F.S., Carvalho, L.H., Maestre, A., Good, M.F., and Yanow, S.K.
mBio. 2020 January; 10.1128/mBio.02343-19
The case for exploiting cross-species epitopes in malaria vaccine design.
Mitran, C.J., and Yanow, S.K.
Frontiers in Immunology. 2020 January; 11 (335)
Cross-Species Immune Recognition Between Plasmodium vivax Duffy Binding Protein Antibodies and the Plasmodium falciparum Surface Antigen VAR2CSA.
Gnidehou S, Mitran CJ, Arango E, Banman S, Mena A, Medawar E, Lima BAS, Doritchamou J, Rajwani J, Jin A, Gavina K, Ntumngia F, Duffy P, Narum D, Ndam NT, Nielsen MA, Salanti A, Kano FS, Carvalho LH, Adams JH, Maestre A, Good MF, Yanow SK.
The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2019 January; 219 (1):110-120
View additional publications