John Archer

MRC-DTP PhD candidate

After completing an undergraduate BSc in Biological Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University, I then went on to complete a postgraduate MSc in Biology and Control of Parasites and Disease Vectors at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), for which I was awarded the Jervis prize; presented to the highest-scoring MSc student.

Following this, I held various research assistant posts in Glasgow University's Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, LSTM's Parasitology department, and in the London Natural History Museum's Parasites & Vectors Division in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In March of 2020 I was awarded a Medical Research Council (MRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) program scholarship based at the LSTM. As part of this program, I completed a postgraduate MRes in Quantitative Methods in Global Health and am now undertaking my PhD titled 'Public health importance of waterborne parasitic diseases: Molecular epidemiology of intestinal schistosomiasis and giardiasis along the shoreline of Lake Malawi, Malawi' under the supervision of Prof. Russell Stothard and Dr. James LaCourse in collaboration with the Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Research Centre, Blantyre, Malawi.

My specific research interests involve the epidemiology and control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) with a particular focus on the molecular epidemiology and molecular diagnosis of parasitic helminths, their vectors and parasitic protozoa in resource-poor settings.

Selected publications

  • Archer, J., Patwary, F.K., Sturt, A.S., … Webster, B.L., Bustinduy, A. Assessment and validation of the isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assay, coupled with simplified sample preparation, for diagnosing female genital schistosomiasis using cervicovaginal lavage and vaginal self-swab samples. [SUBMITTED: PLOS NTDs].

    Archer, J., … Webster, B.L. (2020). Further development and assessment of a portable and isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assay for the molecular point-of-care diagnosis of urogenital schistosomiasis. Molecules.

    Pennance, T., Archer, J*., … Rollinson, D., Webster, B.L. (2020). Validation of a rapid and multiplex diagnostic PCR for xenomonitoring of human and animal schistosomiasis. Molecules. *Co-first Author. Molecules.

    Archer, J., … LaCourse, E, J. Webster, B.L. Stothard, J.R. (2020). Intestinal schistosomiasis and giardiasis co-infection in sub-Saharan Africa: Can a One Health approach improve control of each waterborne parasite simultaneously? Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases.

    Archer, J., LaCourse, E, J. Webster, B.L. Stothard, J.R. (2019). An update on non-invasive urine diagnostics for human-infecting parasitic helminths: what more could be done and how? Parasitology. (DOI: 10:1017/S0031182019001732).

    Pennance, T., ... Archer, J., et al (2021). Transmission and diversity of Schistosoma haematobium and S. bovis and their freshwater intermediate snail hosts Bulinus globosus and B. nasutus in Zanzibar. PLOS NTDs.

    Frederick, A., … Archer, J., et al. (2021). Structural requirements for dihydrobenzoxazepinone anthelmintics: actions against medically important and model parasites - Trichuris muris, Brugia malayi, Heligmosomoides polygyrus and Schistosoma mansoni. ACS. Infect. Dis.

    Furlong-Silva, … Archer, J., et al. (2021). Tetracyclines improve lymphatic filariasis pathology by disrupting interleukin-4 receptor-mediated lymphangiogenesis. J. Clin. Invest. (DOI: 10,1172/JCI140853).

    Pionnier, N., Sjoberg, H., Furlong-Silva, … Archer, J., et al. (2020). Eosinophil-Mediated Immune Control of Adult Filarial Nematode Infection Can Proceed in the Absence of IL-4 Receptor Signalling. J. Immunol. (DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1901244).

    Bakowski, M.A., Shiroodi, R.K., Liu, R. … Archer, J., et al. (2019). Discovery of short course antiwolbachial quinazolines for elimination of filarial worm infections. Sci. Transl. Med. (DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aav3523).

    Al-Sheri, H., Cousins, A., Power, J., Archer, J., LaCourse, J.E., Stothard, J.R. (2019). Non-Invasive surveillance of Plasmodium infection by real-time PCR analysis of ethanol preserved faeces from Ugandan school children with intestinal schistosomiasis. Malar J. (DOI: 10.1186/S12936‐019‐2748‐4).

    Taylor, M.J., Geldern, T.W.V., Ford, L., … Archer, J., et al. (2019). Preclinical development of an anti-Wolbachia macrolide drug for the treatment of lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. Sci. Transl. Med. (DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aau2086).

    Clare, R.H., Bardelle, C., Harper, P., … Archer, J., et al. (2019). Industrial scale high-throughput screening delivers multiple fast acting macrofilaricides. Nat. Commun. (DOI: 10:038/S41467-018-07826-2).

    Hong, D.W., Benayoud, F., Nixon, G.L., … Archer, J., et al. (2019). AWZ1066S, a highly specific anti-Wolbachia drug candidate for a short-course treatment of filariasis. Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. DOI: 10.1073/PNAS1816585116).

    Stothard, J.R., Kabatereine, N.B., Archer, J., Al-Shehri, H., Tchuem-Tchuente, L.A., Gyapong, M., Bustinduy, A.L. (2016). A centenary of Robert T. Leiper’s lasting-legacy on schistosomiasis and a COUNTDOWN on control of neglected tropical diseases. Parasitology. (DOI: 10:1017/S0031182016000998).