Dr. Nicolas Brancucci, Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Swiss TPH Person of Trust

Institutional responsibilities
Person of Trust

OrcID
0000-0003-0655-3266

Biosketch

Nicolas Brancucci is a parasitologist particularly interested in studying molecular interactions between malaria parasites and their human host cells. In current projects, his team studies nutrient sensing and erythrocyte invasion of Plasmodium falciparum parasites. Nicolas Brancucci obtained his PhD at the Swiss TPH/University of Basel, where he investigated epigenetic mechanisms controlling antigenic variation of P. falciparum. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Boston (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health) and Glasgow (Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology) focusing on the process of transmission stage formation. During this time, he became interested in the intimate links that exist between P. falciparum metabolism, gene regulation and the exposure of parasites to different host microenvironments. In 2017, he re-joined the Swiss TPH to establish new drug screening approaches and to search for malaria transmission-blocking drugs. Since 2020, he is leading the “Malaria Host Interactions” research unit at the Swiss THP and holds a tenure-track assistant professorship position at the University of Basel.

Thommen B.T, Dziekan J.M, Achcar F, Tjia S, Passecker A, Buczak K, Gumpp C, Schmidt A, Rottmann M, Grüring C, Marti M, Bozdech Z, Brancucci N.M.B. Genetic validation of PfFKBP35 as an antimalarial drug target. eLife. 2023;12(RP86975). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.86975

Thommen B.T, Passecker A, Buser T, Hitz E, Voss T.S, Brancucci N.M.B. Revisiting the effect of pharmaceuticals on transmission stage formation in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022;12:802341. DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.802341

Brancucci N.M.B, De Niz M, Straub T.J, Ravel D, Sollelis L, Birren B.W, Voss T.S, Neafsey D.E, Marti M. Probing Plasmodium falciparum sexual commitment at the single-cell level. Wellcome Open Res. 2018;3:70. DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14645.3

Brancucci N.M.B, Gerdt J.P, Wang C, De Niz M, Philip N, Adapa S.R, Zhang M, Hitz E, Niederwieser I, Boltryk S.D, Laffitte M.C, Clark M.A, Gruring C, Ravel D, Blancke Soares A, Demas A, Bopp S, Rubio-Ruiz B, Conejo-Garcia A, Wirth D.F, Gendaszewska-Darmach E, Duraisingh M.T, Adams J.H, Voss T.S, Waters A.P, Jiang R.H.Y, Clardy J, Marti M. Lysophosphatidylcholine regulates sexual stage differentiation in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Cell. 2017;171(7):1532-1544 e15. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.10.020

Brancucci N.M, Goldowitz I, Buchholz K, Werling K, Marti M. An assay to probe Plasmodium falciparum growth, transmission stage formation and early gametocyte development. Nat Protoc. 2015;10(8):1131-42. DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2015.072

Brancucci N.M, Bertschi N.L, Zhu L, Niederwieser I, Chin W.H, Wampfler R, Freymond C, Rottmann M, Felger I, Bozdech Z, Voss T.S. Heterochromatin protein 1 secures survival and transmission of malaria parasites. Cell Host Microbe. 2014;16(2):165-176. DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2014.07.004