The Clinical Parasitology Unit is an interdisciplinary group of clinically trained LPD staff members who oversee the clinical research portfolio and provide clinical care, consultations, and training in tropical medicine and parasitology. The overriding goals of this program are:
- To gain insight into the clinical syndromes associated with parasitic infections
- To understand and help define the pathogenesis underlying clinical disease
- To identify better ways of treating individual infections and to prevent secondary consequences of treatment
- To develop better diagnostic tools for the species-specific diagnosis of active parasitic infection
Although the Clinical Parasitology Unit has protocols to see patients with any parasitic infection, the overwhelming majority of patients have neurocysticercosis, filarial infections (lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, loiasis, mansonellosis), strongyloidiasis, Chagas disease, hookworm infections, ascaraisis, giardiasis, echinococcosis, and leishmaniasis. We occasionally see patients with gnathostomiasis, African trypanosomiasis, and malaria, among others.
Clinical Parasitology Unit, June 2022: Front Row (left to right): Nicole Holland, R.N. (former member); Perla Adames Castillo, R.N.; Amy Klion, M.D.; Paneez Khoury, M.D., MHSc; JeanAnne Ware, M.P.H., C.R.N.P.; Elise O’Connell, M.D., Senior Investigator; Celeste Nelson, M.S., C.R.N.P. Back Row (left to right): Gregory Constantine, M.D.; Thomas Nutman, M.D.; William Sears, M.P.H., M.D. (former member); Lauren Wetzler, MHS, PA-C; Thomas Brown, R.N.; Ejiofor Ezekwe, M.D., Ph.D.
Elise M. O’Connell, M.D.
Chief, Clinical Parasitology Unit
Associate Research Physician
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Specialty(s): Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center
Education:
M.D., Loyola University Chicago
Jessica Bass, D.O.
Infectious Disease Clinical Fellow
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
D.O., Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
Residency, NCH Healthcare System Internal Medicine Residency
Chief Resident, NCH Healthcare System Internal Medicine Residency
Fellowship, NIH Infectious Disease Fellowship
Languages Spoken: Spanish
Thomas Brown, R.N.
Nurse Specialist, CCRP
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Perla Adames Castillo, R.N.
Nurse Research Specialist
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Languages Spoken: Spanish
Gregory M. Constantine, M.D.
Assistant Research Physician, Human Eosinophil Section (HES), Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases (LPD)
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Specialty(s): Allergy and Immunology, Internal Medicine Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center
Education:
M.D., University of Texas Long School of Medicine, San Antonio, TX
Residency, Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Chief Residency, Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Fellowship, Allergy and Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, NIH, Bethesda, MD
Gustavo Cuevas
Clinical Research Coordinator
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Languages Spoken: Spanish
Harris Richard Droghini, M.D.
Allergy and Immunology Fellow
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
BMus, Vanderbilt University
M.D., Medical University of South Carolina
Ejiofor Ezekwe, M.D., Ph.D.
Allergy and Immunology Clinical Fellow
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
Pediatrics Residency, University of North Carolina
Ph.D., University of North Carolina
Medical School, University of North Carolina
Janitzio Guzman, M.D.
Infectious Diseases Fellow
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency, University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, Tulsa, OK
Doctor of Medicine, University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
Bachelor of Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Languages Spoken: Spanish
Paneez Khoury, M.D., M.H.Sc., FAAAAI
Senior Clinician; Director, Allergy & Immunology Fellowship Training Program, Laboratory of Allergic Diseases (LAD)
Head, Eosinophil Clinical Research Unit, Human Eosinophil Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases (LPD)
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Specialty(s): Allergy and Immunology, Internal Medicine Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center
Education:
M.D., University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL
M.H.Sc., Duke University, Durham, NC
Amy Klion, M.D.
Co-Deputy Chief, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases
Chief, Human Eosinophil Section
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
B.A., Princeton University
M.D., New York University School of Medicine
Michelle M. Luera, M.S.N.
Registered Nurse
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
M.S.N., Nursing Informatics, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
B.S., Nursing, Florida International University, Miami, FL
Emily E. Miltenberger, B.S.
Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
B.S., 2021, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Languages Spoken: French, Korean
Celeste Gerise Nelson M.S., C.R.N.P.
Advanced Practice Nurse (C.R.N.P.)
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Thomas Nutman, M.D.
Lab Chief, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases
Chief, Helminth Immunology Section
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center
Education:
A.B., Brown University, Providence, RI
M.D., University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Adrienne Showler, M.D.
Attending Physician
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
Medical School, University of Ottawa
Residency, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
Fellowship, University of Toronto Hospital
Languages Spoken: French
JeanAnne M. Ware, M.P.H., C.R.N.P.
Nurse Practitioner, C.R.N.P., FNP-BC
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
BSN, Johns Hopkins University
MSN, University of California San Francisco Family Nurse Practitioner Program
M.P.H., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Languages Spoken: Spanish
Lauren Wetzler, MHS, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.
Education:
MHS, Physician Assistant, Drexel University
BS, Biology, University of Maryland, College Park
Former Research Group Members
- Nina Lei Tang, BS, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow; Education: BA, Barnard College; Languages spoken (other than English): French
- Nina studied the immunopathology of neurocysticercosis with a particular focus on the local immune environment of subarachnoid neurocysticercosis and the persistence of seropositivity following cure of active disease. After NIAID: M.D./Ph.D. program at Baylor College of Medicine
- Aissatou Bah, BS. After NIAID: M.D. program at University of Minnesota
- Madelyn Corda, BS. After NIAID: Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine
- Lauren Thumm, R.N. After NIAID: Merck
- Nicole Holland, R.N. After NIAID: HRSA
- Jiana L. Blaha, MHS
- William J. Sears, M.D., MHS