Ira J. Blader, PhD Microbial Infection and Immunity Seminar Series Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK Toxoplasma Infections: It Doesn’t Take a PhD to Grow a Parasite The obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii causes disease as a result of uncontrolled parasite growth and dysregulated immune responses. Dr Blader’s laboratory studies both aspects of Toxoplasma pathogenesis and specifically asks how and why Toxoplasma activates host cell signaling pathways and how anti-Toxoplasma immune responses are controlled in immune-privileged tissues. His seminar will focus on their recent work showing that parasite cell cycle progression is dependent on the ALK4,5,7 family of host cell receptor kinases. Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 9:10am Dorothy Heart and Lung Research Institute, Room 170 Microbial Infection and Immunity Seminar Series