About us
The profound success of pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and HIV in causing disease depends on their ability to successfully utilize the host’s cellular machinery for their own advantage to avert its immune system. Understanding these pathways or processes essential for the life cycle of these pathogens is crucial, as it represents potential targets for new drug strategies.
Lab news and events
Fikadu was also the first scientist to appear on the iconic Ethiopian late-night talk show Seifu on EBS:

Excited to report our work published in eLife about ESAT-6, a key virulence factor of M. tuberculosis. Importantly, we've developed a nanobody against it, opening new doors to further study the biology of ESAT-6. For more information, please visit this link:
https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/91930#tab-content
Bates TA, Trank-Greene M, Nguyenla X, Anastas A, Merutka IR, Dixon SD, Shumate A, Groncki AR, Parson MA, Barklis E, Burke JE, Shinde U, Ploegh HL, Tafesse FG. bioRxiv. 2023:2023.08.16.553641. doi: 10.1101/2023.08.16.553641.

In collaboration with the lab of Eric Barklis we published a new study in the Virology Journal. We showed that nanobodies that bind the HIV-1 Capsid protein block viral assembly and infectivity. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of targeting HIV proteins, including the Gag/Capsid, with nanobodies to inhibit HIV-1 infection. Here is the link to the Article.

From TB to COVID-19: An OHSU lab uses alpaca antibodies to shift gears

Zika Virus: Master Membrane Manipulator. Click here to read our blog.

Our paper that describes the role of Sphingolipids in the entry of M. tuberculosis is now accepted for publication in mBio. See the accepted manuscript in Biorxiv.
Our collaborative work with the lab of Sarah Fortune (Harvard School of Public Health) and Bryan Bryson (MIT) on the mechanism of how GM-CSF signaling controls Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is published in Nature Communications.
Event: Fikadu G. Tafesse is giving a talk about our recent work on the Webinar Series on Sphingolipid Biology.
Event: Fikadu G. Tafesse is one of the invited speakers at the upcoming SLB meeting "Host-Microbial Interactions in Health and Disease: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
Event: Our PacTB (Pacific Tuberculosis Pathogenesis and Host-Response Research Retreat) meeting this year is in UC Berkley
Event: Conversations in Global Health | Winter 2020 Presented by the Center for Global Child Health Research

Congratulations to the Tafesse lab. They've received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their research project, Nanobodies as a Targeted-Therapeutic Against Mtb.

Professor Tafesse is featured as part of OHSU's Onward campaign.

Flaviviruses, such as Zika and Dengue virus, manipulate the lipid content of host cells to replicate and cause disease. Read our new review.
Podcast

Fikadu discussed the potentials of nanobodies as therapeutics against infectious diseases in "How can one farm in Oregon end two epidemics in Africa?" on the podcast "ONE future"
Our lab is growing
Tafesse Lab is recruiting. Please see our Contact Us page for details.
Consider applying for a postdoctoral fellowship through Dean's Research Scholar Program and OHSU Fellowship for Diversity in Research.