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Bernard Fried, Kreider Professor Emeritus of Biology, is co-editor of a new book focusing on new possible avenues of medical research using intestinal parasites called echinostomes. The Biology of Echinostomes: From the Molecule to the Community was published in November by Springer.
Fried is one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of parasitology. Fellow scientists have named three organisms in his honor, including Echinostoma friedi.
Biology graduate Robert Peoples ’08 and Joseph Sherma, Larkin Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, each co-authored a chapter in the book. Peoples’ chapter is the result of many years of work with Fried, which previously resulted in conference presentations and publications in academic journals.
Fried and Sherma have been performing interdisciplinary, collaborative research with students as part of the EXCEL Scholars program for more than 20 years. During that time, they have worked with more than 100 students who have published in academic journals, presented at national and international conferences, gone on to receive master’s and doctorate degrees, and worked in numerous fields.
Biochemistry major James Vasta ’10 (Willow Grove, Pa.) is currently working with Fried on related parasite research. Vasta had his work published in Parasitology Research, and received a Goldwater Scholarship, the nation’s premier undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, science, and engineering.
According to Fried, echinostomes are medically- and veterinary-important parasitic flatworms that invade humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. They are useful because they provide good models for biological research and can help in the study of human and animal infections, experimental models, and systematics (the study of the diversity of life on the planet). The book looks at new methodologies, techniques, and analysis of data in the context of host-parasite interactions.“We examine the new literature, mainly from the past 10 years, on the biology of echinostomes,” says Fried. “These flukes have become important models to study intestinal parasitism at all levels of organization from the molecule to the community. We have used 27 expert collaborators from around the world to produce the 13 chapters in the book.”
The book will appeal to researchers and advanced undergraduate/graduate students in parasitology, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, physiology, and invertebrate biology. Fried’s co-editor is Rafael Toledo of the department of parasitology at University of Valencia in Spain.