This Week in Parasitism
TWiP is a monthly netcast about eukaryotic parasites. Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier, science Professors from Columbia University, deconstruct parasites, how they cause illness, and how you can prevent infections.
- Update frequency
- every 24 days
- Average duration
- 84 minutes
- Episodes
- 264
- Years Active
- 2009 - 2025
TWiP 44: Parasites provide a cricket subsidy for trout
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier
Vincent and Dickson explain how a nematode manipulates cricket behavior and alters the food web of a stream.
Links for this episode:- Nematomorph para…
TWiP 43: Two remarkable host-parasite conflicts
Vincent and Dickson review how sickle cell microRNAs contribute to malaria resistance, and inhibition of innate immune responses by an enzyme from trypanosomes.
Links for this episode:- microRNAs inv…
TWiP 42: The tick keeps on ticking
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier
Vincent and Dickson answer listener emails about Leishmania, dual infection of vectors, tapeworms, liver flukes, toxoplasmosis, and much more.
Links f…
TWiP 41: Flying and crawling beasts
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier
Vincent and Dickson review medically important arthropods.
Links for this episode:- Thomas Eisner
- Incomplete metamorphosis in insects (jpg)
- Complete m…
TWiP 40: Doctor, there's a worm in my eye!
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier
Vincent and Dickson discuss loaiasis caused by the filarial nematode Loa loa.
Right-click to download TWiP #40 (52 MB .mp3, 73 minutes).
Links for thi…
TWiP 39: I encyst, said the amoeba
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier
Vincent and Dickson review the biology and pathogenesis of the amoebae Naegleria fowlerii and Acanthamoeba castellani.
Links for this episode:- N. fow…
TWiP 38: How to Trichomonas
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier
Vincent and Dickson tackle the backlog of listener email, then consider the life cycle and pathogenesis of Trichomonas vaginalis, the flagellated prot…
TWiP 37: Dracunculiasis
Vincent and Dickson discuss the life cycle and pathogenesis of Dracunculus medinensis, the filarial nematode that causes dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease.
Links for this episode:- Dracunculus…
TWiP 36: Trichuris and microbes plan a hatch
Vincent and Dickson review how gut bacteria help establish T. muris in the large intestine of mice.
TWiP 35: Malaria control with David Fidock
Vincent and Dickson discuss control of malaria with their Columbia University colleague David Fidock.
TWiP #34 - Up against the Wolbachia
Vincent and Dickson discuss control of malaria and filariasis with the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia.
TWiP #33 - Hide and seek
Vincent and Dickson review an in silico pipeline for identifying molecular mimicry candidate proteins in the genomes of parasites, and catch up on listener email.
TWiP #32: Evasive trypanosomes and schistosomes
Vincent and Dickson discuss immune evasion by the cruzain protease of T. cruzi, and novel tetraspanin antigens of S. japonicum.
TWiP #31 - A malaria vaccine
Vincent and Dickson discuss the promising results of a phase III trial of a malaria vaccine in African children.
TWiP #30 - Global infectious disease control with Charles Knirsch
Vincent and Dickson have a broad-ranging conversation with Charles Knirsch of Pfizer, Inc. about how public-private partnerships can function to control and eliminate infectious diseases.
TWiP #29 - Neglected tropical diseases with Peter Hotez
Vincent and Dickson converse with Peter Hotez about global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical diseases.
TWiP #28 - Medical entomology with Robert W. Gwadz
Vincent and Dickson discuss medical entomology with Robert W. Gwadz, Assistant Chief of the Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research at NIAID.
TWiP #27 - Trematodes
Vincent and Dickson continue their discussion of trematodes, or flukes, which have a snail as a reservoir host.
TWiP #26 - The schistosomes
Vincent and Dickson take on the schistosomes, agents of a series of related diseases in humans referred to as schistosomiasis.
TWiP #25 - Wuchereria bancrofti
Vincent and Dickson review Wuchereria bancrofti, the nematode that causes lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis.