Welcome to the Pilotte Lab!
Department of Biological Sciences
Quinnipiac University

Fall 2024

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte whose paper comparing soil-transmitted helminth DNA detection methods was recently published in Parasites and Vectors. 

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte and Dr. Sirois whose paper, in collaboration with the Pickering Lab (University of California, Berkeley) and the Ajjampur Lab (The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory) was recently published in PLoS NTD.  Manual et al (2024) describe the development and proof-of-concept study of a sensitive and specific molecular method for detecting soil transmitted helminths in large volumes of soil.

Summer 2024

The Pilotte Lab welcomes Sakib Hossain, M.S. from icddr, b in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sakib comes to the lab to train on real-time PCR assays for the detection of STHs. This collaborative work is part of a larger study being conducted by icddr,b, Stanford and North Carolina State University to evaluate the impacts of improved flooring  on STH transmission. 

Spring 2024

Congratulations to our recently graduated lab members! David Russell, M.S. and Gabriel Trajkovic, B.S.

Fall 2023

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte whose paper in collaboration with the Williams Lab at Smith College was recently published in PLoS NTD.  Doherty et. al (2023) describe an optimized strategy for real-time qPCR detection of O. volvulus in pooled Simulium sp. blackfly vectors. 

• Dr. Pilotte presents work on the development of point-of-care diagnostics for STHs at the Annual Meeting of the TMRC grant holders in Washington, DC. 

•  The Pilotte Lab welcomes Dr. Megan Fris as a Research Associate! Dr. Fris will be comparing field-friendly testing platforms for mosquito-transmitted diseases.
  
  

• Professor Pilotte is featured in the Berlin Citizen for his recently awarded grants!
  
  

• Professor Pilotte is featured on the MyQ website for his recently awarded grants!
  
  

• The Pilotte Lab welcomes Rachael Sirois, VMD as it's first Visiting Scientist. Dr. Sirois will be investigating the susceptibility of the dog to experimental infection with Brugia malayi. 

Summer 2023

• Dr. Pilotte presents research on characterizing strongyle infections in the New England dairy goat community during the "Large Animal Diagnosis and Control" session at the AAVP 2023 Annual Meeting. This work was completed in collaboration with the Richardson Lab. 

Spring 2023

• Congratulations to our graduating lab members, Madison Murphy and Ariana Ciancio!
  
  

• Madison Murphy '23 presents her research on developing a CRISPR-Cas12 diagnostic for A. lumbricoides at Quinnipiac's Biological Science Student Poster Session. 

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte whose co-authored chapter discussing veterinary diagnosis of filarial infection was recently published in Control of Human and Animal Filariases: Landscape, Challenges, and Approaches for Control (Drug Discovery in Infectious Diseases). 

Fall 2022

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte and Dr. Sirois whose paper, in collaboration with Dr. Lori Saunders (Smith College) and the Williams Lab (Smith College), was recently published in PLoS NTD. They describe a novel qPCR assay for the detection of M. perstans from human blood and mosquitoes.
  
  

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte whose co-authored review with the Ajjampur Lab (The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory) discussing concerns and possible solutions for potential resistance in STH as a result of expanded MDA was recently published in Frontiers in Tropical Diseases.
  
  

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte and Dr. Sirois whose paper, in collaboration with the Reimer Lab (LSTM), was recently published in PLoS NTD. Pryce et al. (2022) describe integrated surveillance for mosquito-born parasitic diseases.
  
  

• Dr. Pilotte presents on integrated xenomonitoring tools and strategies at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, WA.
   

• The Pilotte Lab welcomes Ariana Ciancio '23 and Gabriel Trajkovic '24!

Summer 2022

• Dr. Pilotte presents on the importance of optimizing NAATs through genomics-based target selection at ICOPA 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
  
  

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte whose collaborative paper evaluating xenomonitoring as a tool for LF surveillance was recently published in Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease.
  
  

• The Pilotte Lab welcomes Isabelle Miserani '25!

Spring 2022

• Congratulations to lab alum Emily Thompson, Quinnipiac University Class of 2022!
  
  

• The Pilotte Lab welcomes Emily Thompson '22, Madison Murphy '23, and David Russell '24 as its first research students!

Fall 2021

• Congratulations to Dr. Pilotte, whose paper in collaboration with The Williams Lab (Smith College), was recently published in PLoS NTD. Halil et al. (2022) describe a novel qPCR assay for the detection of S. japonicum.
  
  

• Dr. Pilotte presents as a Byron Prize recipient at the 2021 University of Massachusetts Amherst Molecular and Cellular Biology  Annual Retreat.
   

• Dr. Pilotte presents at the Quinnipiac University Biology Faculty Research Presentation.
   

• The Pilotte Lab is excited to open our lab doors in September 2021.