About
Dr Catherine Gordon is a molecular parasitologist and head of the Applied Tropical and Molecular Parasitology lab at QIMRB. Dr Gordon completed a Bachelor of Science (Microbiology and Biomedicine) with first class honours (Marine Parasitology) at the University of QLD (UQ) where she was infected with a love of worms by her honours supervisor, Prof Tom Cribb. She then when on to complete a PhD (Public Health: Molecular Parasitology) also from UQ, looking at reservoir hosts of Schistosoma japonicum in the Philippines. She has a track record in molecular parasitology techniques for diagnosis and epidemiology, medical parasitology, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), transmission dynamics, and field work in South-East Asia, including the Philippines, China, Cambodia and Lao PDR on zoonotic helminth parasites.
Her research program aims to develop new diagnostics for a range of parasitic helminths with a particular focus on developing point-of-care diagnostics, molecular based tools and genetics of helminth parasites to help elucidate epidemiology of these diseases and identify animal reservoirs. She has a particular focus on schistosomiasis, strongyloidiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis.
In addition to her research activities at QIMRB Dr Gordon lectures in parasite immunology at the University of Queensland, and parasite diagnostics at the Queensland University of Technology.
Professional Memberships
Australian Society of Parasitology (Member)
Strongyloides Australia (Secretary)
Funding
● NHMRC e-ASIA Joint Research Program (e-Asia JRP) “Eliminating S. mekongi – the final push”
● NHMRC e-ASIA Joint Research Program (e-ASIA JRP) “Eliminating the Major Helminth Neglected Tropical Diseases from the Lower Mekong Basin”
● NHMRC Synergy Grant “Ending the neglect – setting the platform for strongyloidiasis elimination in Australia”
● NHMRC e-ASIA Joint Research Program (e-Asia JRP) “Rapid point of care diagnostics for the elimination of Asian Schistosomiasis”
● Australia-Indonesia Institute Grants Program, Uniting science and the arts to improve Indonesian child health
Publications
Gordon, C. A., J. Utzinger, S. Muhi, S. L. Becker, J. Keiser, V. Khieu and D. J. Gray (2024). "Strongyloidiasis." Nature Reviews Disease Primers 10(6).
Jones, M. K., J. Keiser, C. A. Gordon and D. P. McManus (2023). Trematodes. Manual of Clinical Microbiology. K. C. Carroll, M. A. Pfaller, J. A. Karlowsky et al., ASM Press.
Aula, O. P., D. P. McManus, M. K. Jones, H. You, P. Cai and C. A. Gordon (2023). "Optimisation of the DNA dipstick as a rapid extraction method for Schistosoma japonicum in infected mice samples and spiked human clinical samples." Infectious Diseases of Poverty 12(1): 71.