Mr Lucas Cunningham

  • Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Tropical Disease Biology
Mr Lucas Cunningham

Research interests

Farewell HUGS

The final chapter of the HUGS study was presented this month at the British Society for Parasitology Spring Meeting 2026, marking the culmination of four years of collaborative research into hybrid schistosomes and their public health implications. 

Hosted by University of Glasgow, the meeting brought together researchers from across the global schistosomiasis community. A standout moment was Prof Janelisa Musaya’s closing presentation from the Hybridisation in UroGenital Schistosomiasis (HUGS) project, which explored how shared water sources can act as transmission hotspots across human, animal and snail populations. The findings reinforce the need to integrate hybrid surveillance and One Health approaches into control programmes. 

The wider programme highlighted just how quickly the field is evolving. New data from the SHIS-CAM study showed S. bovis molecular markers in around 90% of schistosome-positive samples, underlining the scale of cross-species transmission. Other work explored female genital schistosomiasis surveillance, infections in wildlife populations, and the potential for parasites such as Strongyloides to move across the human–animal interface. 

There were also important advances in drug resistance monitoring. Prof Tim Anderson presented emerging evidence of mutations linked to reduced praziquantel efficacy in African schistosome populations, including the identification of a potentially resistant allele in Côte d’Ivoire. Alongside this, new research on livestock transmission in Zanzibar highlighted the ongoing complexity of schistosomiasis epidemiology. 

Together, these findings point to a clear direction of travel. Schistosomiasis research is becoming more integrated, more molecular, and more focused on real-world transmission dynamics across species. 

For HUGS, this meeting was both an endpoint and a milestone. The study has helped reshape how we understand hybrid schistosomes in Malawi and beyond. With new programmes like SHIS-CAM already building on this work, the next phase of research is well underway.

Biography

Lucas Cunningham started his career in the biological sciences with a Zoology degree from University of Wales, Aberystwyth and followed this up with two years of volunteering and working in the parasitic worms department of the Natural History Museum. In 2012 he completed an MSc in Medical Parasitology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, with his thesis focusing on the urban and per-urban epidemiology of schistosomiasis in Wad Medni, North Sudan. Following his MSc Lucas began his PhD, (Detection and control of T. brucei s.l. in the Historic sleeping sickness foci of N.W. Uganda) at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) which he completed in 2017.

Prior to completing his PhD Lucas joined the Countdown consortium in 2015, and has since been involved in the TrypaNo-2 and TrypaNo-3 projects and is currently lead Postdoctoral Research Associate in molecular diagnostics for the Hybridisation in UroGenital Schistosomiasis study at LSTM under Professor J. Russell Stothard.

He will be continuing is work looking into the molecular epidemiology of schistosomiasis as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the upcoming Species Hybridisation and Interactions in Schistosomes in Cameroon study.

 

Research interests

Lucas has a number of current research projects. Detection and characterisation of anthroponotic and zoonotic schistosome species and hybrids from cattle, humans and snails in Southern Malawi as part of the HUGS study. Development and implementation of a mobile molecular laboratory for xenomintoring of African Trypanosomiasis in Uganda. Development of species-specific qPCR diagnostic for strongyloidiasis in collaboration with international partners. Improving Lyme disease diagnostics and surveillance based on alternative molecular methods. Surveillance of beta-tubulin markers for drug resistance in hookworms (Cambodia and Malawi) as part of a multi-disciplinary team based at LSTM.

Lucas took part in the World Health Organisation expert panel on Vector control and the elimination of gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in 2021. He has conducted multiple field trips to Ghana and Uganda as well as field work in Northern Sudan. In 2020 he was successful in securing a grant for a pilot study into the use of immuno-PCR for improved diagnosis of Lyme disease. He also leads the medical entomological identification group at LSTM and is a Specialist Editor for Frontiers in Parasite Diagnostics.

Teaching

Lucas is a laboratory demonstrator on MSc and Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene taught courses. He also lectures on these courses, specialising in gut protozoa, African trypanosomiasis and molecular methods.

He has led capacity building workshops in UK, Ghana and Uganda for the implementation of novel qPCR diagnostics for the detection of helminths and African trypanosomes.

He supervises, co-supervises, and mentors BSc, MSc, and PhD students.

Selected research publications

Development and pilot application of a point-of-need molecular xenomonitoring protocol for tsetse (Glossina sp.) in a low-resource setting – Journal: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases – Published: 23rd March 2026

Clinical morbidity of single or mixed schistosome species infection in two communities of southern Malawi – Journal: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences – Published: 8th January 2026

Dynamic interactions between Schistosoma haematobium, Schistosoma mattheei and Schistosoma mansoni underscore the complex polyparasitism of intestinal schistosomiasis in southern Malawi – Journal: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences – Published: 8th January 2026

One Health insights into local transmission of zoonotic Schistosoma mattheei in southern Malawi – Journal: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences – Published: 8th January 2026

Public health challenge of hybridization in urogenital schistosomiasis: New insights and one health perspectives from Malawi – Journal: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences – Published: 8th January 2026

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