Sebastian Lourido was awarded the 2024 William Trager Award by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene for his pioneering use of CRISPR tools to study the biology of Toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasite that infects about 25% of humans.
Merrill Meadow | Whitehead Institute
November 14, 2024
The Trager Award recognizes scientists who have made substantial contributions to the study of basic parasitology through breakthroughs that have unlocked completely new areas of work.
ASTMH selected Lourido — who is also an associate professor of Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds the Landon Clay Career Development Chair at Whitehead Institute — in recognition of his groundbreaking discoveries on the molecular biology of Toxoplasma. In particular, Lourido has been lauded for his use of cutting-edge CRISPR tools to study the fundamental biology of Toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasite that infects about 25 percent of humans.
“My laboratory colleagues and I are grateful for this recognition of our work, and for the wonderful opportunity it presents to more widely share the ideas and tools we have developed,” says Lourido, who will deliver a talk on his research at the ASTMH Annual Meeting in New Orleans on Nov. 15, 2024.