David A. Fidock, PhD

  • Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine)
  • CS Hamish Young Professor of Immunology (in Microbiology and Immunology)

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David A. Fidock is the C.S. Hamish Young Professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine) at the Columbia University Medical Center. He received his B.Sc. (Maths) with Honors from Adelaide University in 1986 and his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1994. Following postdoctoral research at UC Irvine with Dr. Anthony James and the NIH with Dr. Thomas Wellems, he started his group at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York in 2000. He moved to Columbia University in 2007. His research program focuses primarily on the genetic and molecular basis of antimalarial drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum and research intoantimalarials in development. He has authored 200 articles on malaria. In 2014 he received the Bailey K. Ashford Medal from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). In 2016 he was named the Advance Global Australian of the Year in Life Sciences and a Fellows of the ASTMH. His work is supported by the NIH, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Medicines for Malaria Venture.

Academic Appointments

  • Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine)
  • CS Hamish Young Professor of Immunology (in Microbiology and Immunology)

Administrative Titles

  • Director, Columbia University Graduate Program in Microbiology, Immunology and Infection

Languages

  • English
  • French

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BSc, MSc, PhD, 1986 Genetics and Mathematics, Adelaide & Meath Hospitals
  • PhD, 1994 Malaria research, Pasteur Institute (Institut Pasteur)

Committees, Societies, Councils

  • 2003-Present: Grant Reviewer including for the NIH, US Department of Defense, Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, “Agence Nationale de Recherche” (France), European Research Council, Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (Japan), Israel Ministry of Science and Technology, “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” (Germany), and The National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)
  • 2008-2018: Director of Graduate Admissions, Columbia University Graduate Training Program in Microbiology, Immunology, and Infection
  • 2013-2017: Member, NIH/NIAID study section on Drug Discovery and Resistance (DDR)
  • 2013-2022: Program Director, NIH T32 (AI106711)-funded Columbia University Graduate Training Program in Microbiology, Immunology and Infection
  • 2015-2019: Nationally Elected Board Member, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)
  • 2019-Present: Member, ASTMH Nominating Committee
  • 2021-Present: Member, Novartis Malaria Advisory Board
  • 2022-Present: Lead Organizer, Keystone Symposium on Malaria, Breckenridge, CO (April 10-13)
  • 2022-Present: Member, Malaria Policy Advisory Group, World Health Organization
  • 2022-Present: Chair, Columbia University Irving Medical Center Committee on Appointments and Promotions (Member since 2016)
  • 2023-present: Member, Dean’s Scientific Research Committee, Columbia Irving Medical Center
  • 2023-present: President-Elect, ASTMH

Editorial Boards

  • 2007-Present: Member of the Editorial Boards for Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, ACS Infectious Diseases

Honors & Awards

  • 1994: Ph.D. Graduate Summa cum Laude University Paris VII/Pasteur Institute, Paris
  • 2001: New Initiatives in Malaria Research, Burroughs WellcomeFund
  • 2001: Speaker’s Fund in Biomedical Research, New York Academy of Medicine
  • 2001: New Scholar in Global Infectious Disease, Ellison Medical Foundation
  • 2004: Investigator in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, Burroughs Wellcome Fund
  • 2014: Recipient of the Bailey K. Ashford Medal, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
  • 2016: Advance Global Australian of the Year in Life Sciences
  • 2016: Fellow, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
  • 2016: Advance Global Australian of the Year Award in Life Sciences - Presented in Sydney by Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Prime Minister
  • 2017: CS Hamish Young Endowed Professorship awarded by Columbia University
  • 2020: Recipient, William Trager Medal for transformative research in molecular parasitology, ASTMH
  • 2020: Winner, Project of the Year, Medicines for Malaria Venture (Geneva)
  • 2023: Elected Member, American Academy of Microbiology
  • 2023: President-Elect, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)

Research

Grants

Active

  • R37 - Principal Investigator - NIH/NIAID
    Defining the Role of PfCRT and PfMDR1 as Pleiotropic Mediators of Plasmodium falciparum Multidrug Resistance
  • R01 - Principal Investigator - NIH/NIAID
    Elucidating the Molecular Basis of Piperaquine Resistance and the Role of Altered Hemoglobin Metabolism in Plasmodium falciparum
  • R01 - Principal Investigator - NIH/NIAID
    Defining P. falciparum Resistance to Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies
  • R01 - Multi-Principal Investigator - NIH/NIAID - Leveraging PfCRT Structure to Discern Function and Predict Emergence of Drug-Resistant Malaria
  • PR210545 - Principal Investigator - US Department of Defense
    Targeting the Plasmodium Proteasome for Prophylaxis and Treatment of Drug-Resistant Malaria in U.S. Military Personnel
  • MMV08/0015 - Principal Investigator - Medicines for Malaria Venture
    Elucidation of Genetic Markers to Detect P. falciparum Resistance to MMV-Supported Antimalarials
  • R01 - Co-Investigator - NIH/NIAID
    Defining the Resistome in P. falciparum: Evolution and Mechanism
  • R01 - Co-Investigator - NIH/NIAID
    Function of Antimalarial Drug Resistance Proteins 
  • OPP1054480 - Co-Investigator - Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
    Target Discovery for Antimalarials
  • R01 - Co-Investigator - NIH/NIAID
    Surveillance to Track and Characterize Antimalarial Resistance Trends in Ugandan Plasmodium falciparum Parasites

Selected Publications

  1. Straimer J, Gnädig NF, Witkowski B, Amaratunga C, Duru V, Ramadani AP, Dacheux M, Khim N, Zhang L, Lam S, Gregory PD, Urnov FD, Mercereau-Puijalon O, Benoit-Vical F, Fairhurst RM, Menard D & Fidock DA (2015). K13-propeller mutations confer artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum clinical isolates. Science 347: 428-31. PMC4349400.
  2. Kim J, Tan YZ, Wicht KJ, Erramilli SK, Dhingra SK, Okombo J, Vendome J, Hagenah LM, Giacometti SI, Warren AL, Nosol K, Roepe PD, Potter CS, Carragher B, Kossiakoff AA, Quick M*, Fidock DA* & Mancia F* (2019). Structure and drug resistance of the Plasmodium falciparumtransporter PfCRT. Nature 576: 315-20. PMC691126. *Co-corresponding.
  3. Mihreteab S, Platon L, Berhane A, Stokes BH, Warsame M, Campagne P, Criscuolo A, Ma L, Petiot N, Doderer-Lang C, Legrand E, Ward KE, Zehaie Kassahun A, Ringwald P, Fidock DA & Menard D (2023). Increasing prevalence of artemisinin-resistant HRP2-negative malaria in Eritrea. N Engl J Med 389: 1191-202. PMC10539021.
  4. Mok S, [20 authors], Uhlemann A-C, Sinnis P & Fidock DA (2023). Mapping the genomic landscape of multidrug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum and its impact on parasite fitness. Science Advances 9: eadi2364. PMC10631731.
  5. Rosenthal PJ, Asua V, Bailey JA, Conrad MD, Ishengoma DS, Kamya MR, Rasmussen C, Tadesse FG, Uwimana A & Fidock DA (2024). The emergence of artemisinin partial resistance in Africa: how do we respond? Lancet Infect Dis Mar 26:S1473-3099(24)00141-5. PMID: 38552654.
  6. Platon L, Leroy D, Fidock DA & Menard D (2024). Drug-induced stress mediates Plasmodium falciparum ring-stage growth arrest and reduces in vitro parasite susceptibility to artemisinin. Microbiol Spectr Feb 16: e0350023. PMID: 38363132.

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov

Global Health Activities

Malaria chemotherapeutics and drug resistance