Professional Profile

image for Alam, Tauqeer

Alam, Tauqeer

Research Assistant Professor
2001 South Lincoln Ave
Room 2243 VMBSB (Office)
Room 2644 VMBSB (Lab)
Urbana, IL  61802

Education

  • Ph.D in Molecular Parasitology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India
  • M.S. in Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India
  • B.S (Honors) in Biotechnology, Vinoba Bhave University (VBU), Hazaribag, Jharkhand, India

Academic Positions

  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson SC
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Atlanta GA

Selected Publications

       Google Scholar Citationshttps://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HnO0hqwAAAAJ&hl=en)

  • Read TD, Petit RA 3rd, Joseph SJ, Alam MT, Weil MR, Ahmad M, Bhimani R, Vuong JS, Haase CP, Webb DH, Tan M, Dove ADM. Draft sequencing and assembly of the genome of the world's largest fish, the whale shark: Rhincodon typus Smith 1828. BMC Genomics 2017; 18:532
  • Alam MT, Read TD, Petit RA 3rd, Boyle-Vavra S, Miller LG, Eells SJ, Daum RS, David MZ. Transmission and microevolution of USA300 MRSA in U.S. Households: Evidence from whole-genome sequencing. MBio 2015; 6:e00054-15 [F1000 recommended; Highlighted in Nature, 2015; 59:393; Nature Review Microbiology 2015; 13:331]
  • Boyle-Vavra S, Li X, Alam MT, Read TD, Sieth J, Cywes-Bentley C, Dobbins G, David MZ, Kumar N, Eells SJ, Miller LG, Boxrud DJ, Chambers HF, Lynfield R, Lee JC, Daum, RS. USA300 and USA500 clonal lineages of Staphylococcus aureus do not produce a capsular polysaccharide due to conserved mutations in the cap5 locus. MBio 2015; 6: e02585-14
  • Alam MT, Petit RA, Crispell EK, Thornton TA, Conneely KN, Jiang Y, Satola SW, Read TD. Dissecting vancomycin intermediate resistance in Staphylococcus aureus using genome-wide association. Genome Biology and Evolution 2014; 6:1174-1185
  • Read TD, Petit III RA, Joseph SJ, Alam MT, RW, Ahmad M, Bhimani R, Vuong JS, Haase CP, Webb H, Dove ADM. Draft sequencing and assembly of the genome of the world’s largest fish, the whale shark: Rhincodon typus Smith 1828. PeerJ PrePrints 2015; 3:e1036
  • Burd EM, Alam MT, Passalacqua KD, Kalokhe AS, Eaton ME, Satola SW, Kraft CS, Read TD. Development of oxacillin resistance in a patient with recurrent Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2014; 52:3114-3117
  • Pishchany G, Sheldon JR, Dickson CF, Alam MT, Read TD, Gell DA, Heinrichs DE, Skaar EP. IsdB-dependent hemoglobin binding is required for acquisition of heme by Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of Infectious Diseases 2014; 209:1764-1772
  • Alam MT, Petit RA, Read TD, Dove AD. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the world's largest fish, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), and its comparison with those of related shark species. Gene 2014; 539:44-49
  • Griffing SM, Viana GMR, Mixson-Hayden T, Sridaran S, Alam MT, de Oliveira AM, Barnwell JW, Escalante AA, Povoa MM, Udhayakumar V. Historical shift in Brazilian P. falciparum population structure and drug resistance alleles. PLoS One 2013; 8:e58984
  • Taylor SM, Antonia AL, Parobek CM, Juliano JJ, Janko M, Emch M, Alam MT, Udhayakumar V, Tshefu AK, Meshnick SR. Plasmodium falciparum haplotypes that mediate sulfadoxine resistance are geographically and genetically clustered within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Scientific Reports 2013; 3:1165
  • Mejia TRE, Banegas EI, Mendoza M, Diaz C, Bucheli ST, Fontecha GA, Alam MT, Goldman I, Udhayakumar V, Zambrano JO. Efficacy of chloroquine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Honduras. American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene 2013; 88:850-854
  • Zeeshan M*, Alam MT*, Vinayak S, Bora H, Tyagi RK, Alam MS, Choudhary V, Mittra P, Lumb V, Bharti PK, Udhayakumar V, Singh N, Jain V, Singh PP, Sharma YD. Genetic Variation in the Plasmodium falciparum Circumsporozoite Protein in India and its Relevance to RTS,S Malaria Vaccine. PLoS One 2012; 7:e43430 (*Joint first author)
  • Griffing SM, Mixson-Hayden T, Sridaran S, Alam MT, McCollum AM, Cabezas C, Quezada WM, Barnwell JW, De Oliveira AM, Lucas C, Arrospide N, Escalante AA, Udhayakumar V, Bacon D. South American Plasmodium falciparum after the malaria eradication era: clonal population expansion and survival of the fittest hybrids. PLoS One 2011; 6:e23486
  • Alam MT*, de Souza DK, Vinayak S, Griffing SM, Poe AC, Duah N, Ghansah A, Asamoa K, Slutsker L, Wilson MD, Barnwell JW, Udhayakumar V, Koram KA. Selective sweeps and genetic backgrounds of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance mutations in Ghana. Journal of Infectious Diseases 2011; 203:220-227 (*Corresponding author)
  • Alam MT, Vinayak S, Congpuong K, Wongsrichanalai C, Satimai W, Slutsker L, Escalante AA, Barnwell JW, Udhayakumar V. Tracking the origins and spread of sulfadoxine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum dhps alleles in Thailand. Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy 2011; 55:155-164
  • Vinayak S, Alam MT, Mixson-Hayden T, McCollum AM, Sem R, Shah NK, Lim P, Muth S, Rogers WO, Fandeur F, Barnwell JW, Escalante AA, Wongsrichanalai C, Ariey F, Meshnick SR, Udhayakumar V. Origin and evolution of sulfadoxine resistant Plasmodium falciparum. PLoS Pathogens 2010; 6:e1000830
  • Vinayak S, Alam MT, Sem R, Shah NK, Susanti AI, Lim P, Muth S, Maguire JD, Rogers WO, Fandeur F, Barnwell JW, Escalante AA, Wongsrichanalai C, Ariey F, Meshnick SR, Udhayakumar V. Multiple genetic backgrounds of the amplified Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance (pfmdr1) gene and selective sweep of 184F mutation in Cambodia. Journal of Infectious Diseases 2010; 201:1551-1560 (Cover Page Article)
  • Bharti PK, Alam MT, Boxer R, Shukla MM, Gautam SP, Sharma YD, Singh N. Therapeutic efficacy of chloroquine and sequence variation in pfcrt gene among patients with falciparum malaria in central India. Tropical Medicine & International Health 2010; 15:33-40
  • Alam MT, Bora H, Singh N, Sharma YD. High immunogenecity and erythrocyte-binding activity in the tryptophan-rich domain (TRD) of the 74-kDa Plasmodium vivax alanine-tryptophan-rich antigen (PvATRAg74). Vaccine 2008; 26:3787-3794
  • Alam MT, Bora H, Mittra P, Singh N, Sharma YD. Cellular immune responses to recombinant Plasmodium vivax tryptophan-rich antigen (PvTRAg) among individuals exposed to vivax malaria. Parasite Immunology 2008; 30:379-383
  • Thakur A*, Alam MT*, Bora H, Kaur P, Sharma YD. Plasmodium vivax: sequence polymorphism and effect of natural selection at apical membrane antigen 1 (PvAMA1) among Indian population. Gene 2008; 419:35-42. (*Joint first author)
  • Thakur A, Alam MT, Sharma YD. Genetic diversity in the C-terminal 42kDa region of merozoite surface protein-1 of Plasmodium vivax (PvMSP-1(42)) among Indian isolates. Acta Tropica 2008; 108: 58-63
  • Alam MT, Bora H, Das MK, Sharma YD. The type and mysorensis forms of the Anopheles stephensi (Diptera: Culicidae), in India exhibit identical ribosomal DNA ITS2 and domain-3 sequences. Parasitology Research 2008; 103: 75-80
  • Alam MT, Agarwal R, Sharma YD. Extensive heterozygosity at four microsatellite loci flanking Plasmodium vivax dihydrofolate reductase gene. Molecular & Biochemical Parasitology 2007; 153:178-185
  • Alam MT, Bora H, Bharti PK, Saifi MA, Das MK, Dev V, Kumar A, Singh N, Dash AP, Das B, Wajihullah, Sharma YD. Similar trends of pyrimethamine resistance associated mutations in Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum. Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy 2007; 51: 857-863
  • Vinayak S, Alam MT, Upadhyay M, Das MK., Dev V, Singh N, Dash AP, Sharma YD. Extensive genetic diversity in the Plasmodium falciparum Na+/H+ exchanger-1 transporter protein implicated in quinine resistance. Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy 2007; 51: 4508-4511
  • Garg S, Alam MT, Das MK, Dev V, Kumar A, Dash AP, Sharma YD. Sequence diversity and natural selection at domain I of the apical membrane antigen-1 among Indian Plasmodium falciparum populations. Malaria Journal 2007; 6: 154
  • Alam MT, Das MK, Dev V, Ansari MA, Sharma YD. Identification of two cryptic species in the Anopheles (Cellia) annularis complex using ribosomal DNA PCR-RFLP. Parasitology Research 2007; 100: 943-948
  • Alam MT, Das MK, Dev V, Ansari MA, Sharma YD. PCR-RFLP method for the identification of four members of the Anopheles annularis group of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene 2007; 101: 239- 244
  • Alam MT, Das MK, Ansari MA, Sharma YD. Molecular identification of Anopheles (Cellia) sundaicus from the Andaman and Nicobar islands of India. Acta Tropica 2006; 97:10-18
  • Jalah R, Sarin R, Sud N, Alam MT, Parikh N, Das TK, Sharma YD. Identification, expression, localization and serological characterization of a tryptophan-rich antigen from the human malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax. Molecular & Biochemical Parasitology 2005; 142:158-169

Honors and Awards

  • Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India (2013)
  • American Society for Microbiology (ASM)-Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008-2010)
  • Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India (2005-2007)
  • Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)-NET, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India (2003-2004)
  • Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Government of India (2002)
  • Masters in Biotechnology (M. Biotech) Scholarship, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India (2000-2002)

Selected Service Activities

Manuscripts reviewed for the journals-

  • mSystems
  • BMC Evolutionary Biology
  • Infection Genetics & Evolution
  • Microbial Drug Resistance
  • Parasitology
  • Parasitology Research
  • Acta Tropica