Makedonka Mitreva, PhD
The Robert E. and Louise F. Dunn Professor of Medical Sciences, Departments of Medicine and Genetics
- Phone: 314-286-2005
- Fax: 314-286-1810
- Email: mmitreva@nospam.wustl.edu
Dr. Mitreva’s groundbreaking research tackles two critical areas: combating Neglected Tropical Diseases and unraveling the human microbiome.
Combating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): NTDs are caused by ~20 parasitic and bacterial infections that devastate communities worldwide. Helminths, a significant subset of neglected tropical diseases, are known for not only cause blindness, anemia, and severe pregnancy complications but also stunt children’s growth and increase the risk of deadly co-infections such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The socioeconomic fallout from these diseases perpetuates poverty, particularly in developing countries—a plight so severe that the United Nations Secretary-General has declared the fight against NTDs integral to global poverty eradication efforts. By leveraging cutting-edge (post)genomic approaches, Dr. Mitreva’s laboratory provides essential insights that accelerate both the basic and translational tools needed to control or eliminate these life-threatening parasites.
Unraveling the human microbiome: Dr. Mitreva was a member of the leadership of the Human Microbiome Project, where she led the Shotgun Metagenomics Working Group (22 institutions represented by over 80 participants) and was instrumental in developing approaches and tools used by the consortium to answer main questions related to conservation and diversification of structure / function of the microbiomes associated with different habitats of healthy humans. Dr. Mitreva’s follow up studies focused on understanding dysbiosis associated with human diseases and infections at multi-omics level. This research is vital for pinpointing microbial functions or members linked to various disease conditions, paving the way for revolutionary treatments.
- BS: Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia (1990)
- MS: Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia (1994)
- PhD: Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands (2001)
- Postgraduate Reserach Associate: Dept of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Mentors: Dr. Robert Waterston and Dr. Richard Wilson (2004)
- Talented Students Scholarship, Ministry of Science, Macedonia (1991-1994)
- Graduate Scholarship, Wageningen University, The Netherlands (1997-2001)
- Storm-van der Chijs Stipendium, creativity and self-initiative in scientific research, The Netherlands (2000)
- Best Ph.D. student paper award, Society of Nematologists, USA (2001)
- Genome Technology 2011 “Tomorrow’s PIs’ (2011)
- Member of Scientific Program Committee, ASTMH (2018-present)
- Member of the Educational Committee, ASP (2018-present)
- Innovator Award, Washington University School of Medicine (2019)
- Associate Editor, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2015-2018)
- Member of the Editorial Board, International Journal of Parasitology-Drug and Drug Resistance (2019-present)
- Deputy Editor, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2020-present)
- Standing Member, NIH study section: Genome Variation and Evolution (2021-present)
- Bailey K. Ashford Medal, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2021)
- Member of the Specialist Editorial Board of the International Journal for Parasitology (2022-present)
- Fellow, American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2022)
- Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (2023)
- Endowed Chair, the Robert E. and Louise F. Dunn Professor of Medicine Sciences (2024)
1. Rosa BA, Curtis K, Erdmann Gilmore P, Martin J, Zhang Q, Sprung R, Weil GJ, Townsend RR, Fischer PU, Mitreva M. Direct Proteomic Detection and Prioritization of 19 Onchocerciasis Biomarker Candidates in Humans. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2023 Jan;22(1):100454. doi: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2022.100454. Epub 2022 Nov 23. PMID: 36435333; PMCID: PMC9792368.
2. Tyagi R, Rosa BA, Swain A, Artyomov MN, Jasmer DP, Mitreva M. Intestinal cell diversity and treatment responses in a parasitic nematode at single cell resolution. BMC Genomics. 2024 Apr 4;25(1):341. doi: 10.1186/s12864-024-10203-7. PMID: 38575858; PMCID: PMC10996262.
3. Warner BB, Rosa BA, Ndao IM, Tarr PI, Miller JP, England SK, Luby JL, Rogers CE, Hall-Moore C, Bryant RE, Wang JD, Linneman LA, Smyser TA, Smyser CD, Barch DM, Miller GE, Chen E, Martin J, Mitreva M. Social and psychological adversity are associated with distinct mother and infant gut microbiome variations. Nat Commun. 2023 Sep 20;14(1):5824. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41421-4. PMID: 37726348; PMCID: PMC10509221.