Worm Institute for Research and Medicine

The Worm Institute for Research and Medicine (WIRM), led by Professor Kim D. Janda, was established in 2005 through a generous donation from philanthropist John J. Moores who had a long-time interest in worm-carried (filarial) conditions. In 1989, he had founded the River Blindness Foundation (later absorbed into The Carter Center of Atlanta where he had served on the Board of Trustees beginning in 1994) to distribute a treatment for that disease in developing countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Moore’s gift to Scripps Research has enabled our researchers to focus their work on parasitic worm-borne diseases and potential therapeutics for millions of people.

WIRM scientists have focused their efforts on two important neglected tropical disease (NTD) research areas: The first involves the development of a diagnostic toolbox for public health practitioners in the tropical disease field to detect effectively and efficiently the presence of parasitic worms in a person’s body. The goal being to translate these discoveries into unique approaches for both monitoring disease progression and ultimately elimination of filarial infections throughout the world. The second goal is to find new transformative drugs in the global health fight against diseases in developing countries. Here we hope to bring life-changing new drugs to countries affected by neglected disease where the market-driven models have failed.

One neglected disease WIRM investigators have tackled is associated with the nematode, or worm, that causes onchocerciasis, one of the world’s leading causes of blindness. Onchocerciasis is often referred to as “river blindness,” because it occurs in areas close to fast flowing water where flies transmitting the parasite, a tiny worm called Onchocerca volvulus, like to lay their eggs. In severe cases, the worms cause lesions and massive inflammation in the eyes of the infected person, leading to vision problems and ultimately blindness. According to the Carter Center, approximately 20 million people are infected with the parasite that causes onchocerciasis, with more than 240 million at risk of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Yemen. River blindness can be treated effectively with the drug ivermectin that has been used for four decades now. However, there is still a need to find ways to prevent, control and ultimately eliminate the disease.

In addition to O. volvulus, WIRM researchers have been targeting several other organisms including:

• Brugia-malayi, Mansonella streptocerca and Wuchereria bancrofti — three threadlike worms that infect some 120 million people worldwide. These parasites lodge in lymphatic tissue and cause a disease known as lymphatic filariasis, a debilitating and disfiguring illness that causes elephantiasis, a disease characterized by severe swelling in the limbs and genitals.
• Dracunculis medinensis — a worm spread through unclean water that can grow to be several feet long in the body and causes the painful disease dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease.
• Schistosoma mansoni — a worm carried by freshwater snails, which causes the disease schistosomiasis, affecting some 200 million people worldwide.
• Dirofilaria immitis — a heartworm spread by mosquitoes that infects dogs and is common in the United States.

To develop more effective as well as inexpensive diagnostic tools for these diseases as well as more efficient treatments, a thorough understanding of the individual nematodes is required. However, as those afflicted with these ailments are primarily found in developing countries, the greater scientific community has not given these diseases much attention. WIRM aims to fill this gap and tackle some of the most challenging problems facing filarial parasitology today.