{"id":13067,"date":"2020-03-05T14:55:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T19:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/?p=13067"},"modified":"2020-03-17T12:25:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T16:25:28","slug":"renowned-parasitologist-joseph-inselburg-an-emeritus-professor-at-geisel-school-of-medicine-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/2020\/renowned-parasitologist-joseph-inselburg-an-emeritus-professor-at-geisel-school-of-medicine-dies\/","title":{"rendered":"Renowned Parasitologist Joseph Inselburg, an Emeritus Professor at Geisel School of Medicine, Dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joseph Willard<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Inselburg,<\/span>\u00a0MD<\/span>, professor<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>emeritus of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>microbiology and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>immunology at Geisel School of Medicine, died February 29.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>He was<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>82<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>years old.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>His research career at Dartmouth\u2019s medical school spanned 34 years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"It's always hard to lose someone who meant so much to our scientific community\u2014especially someone who<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>had a very strong and positive influence on his colleagues,\"<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>says Geisel Dean Duane Compton, PhD.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Joe\u00a0Inselburg,\u00a0PhD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cJoe\u2019s presence in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>microbiology,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>alongside Elmer<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Pfefferkorn,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>led to the recruitment and establishment of an outstanding parasitology group in the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>department,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>including David<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Bzik,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>PhD,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Joe Schwartzman,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>MD,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and Lloyd Kasper,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>MD,\u201d says David<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Leib<\/span>, PhD, chair of microbiology and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>immunology.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cHis groundbreaking work on the molecular biology of Plasmodium falciparum has led to a number of important advances including a malaria vaccine currently in phase 2 clinical trials.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bzik<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>describes his<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>former colleague<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>as<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>an<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>incredibly bright and talented teacher, researcher, and scholar.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cJoe was the first to (1) demonstrate that asexual forms of the malaria parasite when released from infected red cells will either continue asexual replication or commit to developing into sexual stage gametocytes, the first to (2) isolate drug resistant mutants and artemisinin resistant mutants of malaria two decades before this was recognized as a major problem in malaria treatment, the first to (3) characterize the malaria parasite DHFR-TS gene and enzyme and identify the mutations in malaria DHFR that conferred resistance against pyrimethamine which was the front line malaria treatment, and the first to (4) develop and characterize monoclonal antibodies against the malaria parasite that prevented the growth of malaria.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe accomplished all of these feats within his first five years of working on malaria after more than a decade of previous research on colicins and drug resistance in bacteria. This is<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>all the more<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>remarkable in view that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Inselburg\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>malaria lab was at Dartmouth, and at the time was the only NIH funded research lab that was not in a large urban center or major government research center. The gene and protein target (called SERA5) of one<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the malaria parasite inhibitory monoclonal antibodies that Joe\u2019s lab identified in the 1980\u2019s is now in Phase 1b clinical trials in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>West Africa after showing greater than<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>72 percent<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>protective efficacy in initial clinical trials in children,\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Bzik<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His good friend and colleague,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Azizul<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Haque, PhD,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>adjunct professor of microbiology and immunology at Geisel,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>says<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Inselburg<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>saw himself as a biologist and parasitologist who strived to integrate the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>immunology in order to contribute to scientific advances in malaria research.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Haque met<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Inselburg<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in 1992 while on sabbatical. Working in Kendall Smith\u2019s lab\u2014where the Dartmouth research team<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>made several groundbreaking discoveries in the field of immunology, which<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>brought a radical change to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>our understanding of the human immune system\u2014the two<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>scientists developed what became a lifelong friendship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Haque says<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Inselburg\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>goal was to establish the serine repeat antigen (SERA) as a potential malaria vaccine\u2014which he achieved.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Toshihiro Horii of Osaka University, Joe\u2019s previous collaborator,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>has been continuing work to test the efficacity of SERA vaccine, which is currently in human trials in Uganda,\u201d Haque says. \u201cMalaria remains one of the most challenging tropical diseases causing significant morbidity and mortality. Over 40 percent of the world\u2019s population live in malaria-endemic areas and is becoming an enormous burden on global public health.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Randall Noelle, PhD,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>professor of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>microbiology and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>immunology, recalls when as a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>young assistant professor many decades ago<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>he benefited from Inselberg\u2019s guidance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cJoe was in the lab next door\u2014a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>source of enthusiasm, vigor, cutting-edge vision, irreverence,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and inspiration. I owe him an overwhelming mountain of gratitude for his mentoring, guidance, support,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and friendship. You don\u2019t find many like Joe.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am saddened that Joe has passed away,\u201d Haque says. \u201cHe<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>was an open-minded person with generosity and thoughtfulness.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>A<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>poet and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>an<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>avid tennis<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>player,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>he was<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>often<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>one of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>my tennis partners. Whenever I met him,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>he always had<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a very welcoming smile on his face.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>His dedication to science for the good of human beings<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>is<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>commendable\u2014this was one of the reasons that he had<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>started to work on malaria\u2014we<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>had many insightful discussions about science and social justice.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I will miss you Joe.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bzik<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>shares a similar memory.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhat I will always remember about Joe was his passion and commitment to human rights and those most in need. This commitment guided Joe\u2019s research path and his personal life. The<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Inselburg<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>lab was guarded by a huge Amnesty International poster that you had to navigate before you could chat with him.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To honor his passion and dedication to social justice, donations can be made in memory of Dr. Joseph Willard<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Inselburg<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of Hanover, New Hampshire, to Doctors Without Borders, Habitat International, or Amnesty International.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joseph Willard Inselburg, MD, professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology at Geisel School of Medicine, died February 29. He was 82 years old. His research career at Dartmouth\u2019s medical school spanned 34 years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":13069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[415],"class_list":["post-13067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-obituary","author-12"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/joe-i-nc1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4r3h1-3oL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13067"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13128,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13067\/revisions\/13128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}