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James R.
Palmieri, Ph.D.
Research Faculty
Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine
2265 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060
Tele: 540-231-4823
Fax: 540-231-5252
Email: jpalmieri@vcom.vt.edu
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Discipline: |
Biomedical Sciences |
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Administrative
Duties: |
Via Wellness
Committee |
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Medical Missions Committee |
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Education: |
| 1964 |
University of
Bridgeport |
B.A. |
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| 1969 |
University
of Bridgeport |
M.S. |
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| 1974 |
Iowa State
University |
Ph.D. |
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| 1975-76 |
Brigham
Young University |
Post
Doctoral
Reseach Fellowship |
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Currently
Teaching: |
Physiology |
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Clinical Case Correlations |
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Pathology (Microbiology)
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Current
Research: |
It is unknown how Francisella
tularensis, the organism which causes cutaneous and pulmonary
tularemia in humans, maintains itself in its silent-cycle in nature. The
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been quite unsuccessful in recovering F.
tularensis from all but dead or dying mammals. It is hypothesized that
Acanthamoeba species may act as a means for protecting viable F.
tularensis in natural environments by producing a protective cyst
around the non-spore producing bacilli enabling them to survive in nature under
severe environmental conditions which would normally kill unprotected
organisms. Elucidation of the silent-cycle of F. tularensis and its
relationship to Acanthamoeba species is presently one of the most
scientifically intriguing questions to be answered concerning the epidemiology
tularemia. Our research involves how F. tularensis survives as a
symbiont of Acanthamoeba and how F. tularensis is passed from
free-living trophozoite stages of Acanthamoeba to its cyst stages. We
are also investigating how long and under what environmental variables F.
tularensis will remain viable in cyst stages of Acanthamoeba and
if cyst stages of Acanthamoeba hyperinfected with F. tularensis
can produce disease in mice. Our research will compare the host cell responses
of mouse macrophages infected with F. tularensis with those of Acanthamoeba
experimentally hyperinfected with F. tularensis and will compare
the pathology of mouse tissues infected with F. tularensis with that
produced by hyperinfected Acanthamoeba. In collaboration with Dr. Tom
Inzana, we are also studying the various genetic markers of virulence of the
different subspecies of F. tularensis that might impact on their
intracellular relationships within the vertebrate host macrophage and within
the protist trophozoite and cyst stages. |
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• Infectious and Parasitic
Disease Pathology |
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• Infectious and Parasitic
Diseases used as biological weapons of mass destruction |
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• Human and Zoonotic
Disease Transmission |
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Professional
and
Community Activities: |
Board Member,
Virginia Rural Health Association |
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Board - Blue Ridge Bicycle Club
(Roanoke) |
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Various parasitology and
tropical medicine socieities |
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Previously on the Editorial
Staff of Hang Gliding Magazine |
