In contrast to a common theory, new findings suggest Columbus-led expeditions may not have transported syphilis to Europe from the Americas, though they cannot disprove the claim with certainty.
Sheila Lukehart, professor emeritus of global health and medicine in the UW School of Medicine, is quoted.
The origins of syphilis — a sexually transmitted infection that devastated 15th century Europe and is still prevalent today — have remained murky, difficult to study and the subject of some debate.
Sheila Lukehart, professor emeritus of global health and medicine in the UW School of Medicine, is quoted.
Ancient DNA recovered from Brazilian remains shows that treponemal diseases originated some 10,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Sheila Lukehart, professor emeritus of global health and medicine in the UW School of Medicine, is quoted.
Christopher Columbus was blamed for bringing syphilis to Europe. New DNA evidence suggests it was already there. Maybe both stories are true. Sheila Lukehart, professor emeritus of global health and medicine at the UW, is quoted.
By Kim Eckhart; this story originally appeared in UW Today.
As the World Health Organization steps up its efforts to eradicate a once-rampant tropical disease, a University of Washington study suggests that monitoring, and potentially treating, the monkeys that co-exist with humans in affected parts of the world may be part of the global strategy.
By Andrea Woo
A University of Victoria researcher says she and a colleague are close to developing a vaccine for syphilis, a disease that has reached its highest rates in B.C. in 30 years.
Microbiologist Caroline Cameron and Sheila Lukehart, a professor in the University of Washington’s department of global health, have received a nearly $3-million grant from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. The grant will help fund preclinical trials.
By Richard Watts
A University of Victoria microbiologist and her American colleague are looking for a vaccine to prevent syphilis, a venereal disease on the rise worldwide.
UVic’s Caroline Cameron, a professor of biochemistry and microbiology, is joining with University of Washington’s Sheila Lukehart, a professor of medicine and global health, to develop a vaccine to stop syphilis before it gets started in a body.
“It’s a preventive treatment, not a cure,” Cameron said.