Ep. 13: “This Wormy World!” Part Two – An Interview with Govert Van Dam

Dr. Mickey Urdea doesn't want to stir up a can of worms, but he's returning to "This Wormy World"! On this episode, Dr. Urdea gets the opportunity to interview Dr. Govert Van Dam, a Senior Researcher for the Leiden Parasitology Diagnostics Group (ParaDiag) at the Leiden University Medical Centre. Together, Mickey and Govert, a worldwide expert on the detection of schistosomiasis, unpack the latest research on schistosoma-targeted antigen tests, weigh in on so-called "rope worms" and delusional parasitosis, and even get to wax poetic on the cement industry! Bait your hook and cast your line for part two of "This Wormy World".After having performed his study of Chemistry with a major in Analytical Chemistry, at the University of Utrecht, Govert Van Dam started in 1988 as a Ph.D. student at the Department of Parasitology of the Medical Faculty of the Leiden University (later LUMC). He obtained his doctorate degree (cum laude) with the thesis 'Circulating gut–associated antigens of Schistosoma mansoni: biological, immunological, and molecular aspects', under prof. dr. A.M. Deelder, in 1995. Towards the end of his Ph.D. and after, he contributed as a research scientist to the following projects: "Epidemiology, serology and chemotherapy of Schistosoma in a recently exposed community near Richard Toll, Senegal" (STD3 –EG, 1993-1995), "Field applicable antigen assays for human schistosomiasis: a multi-centre development and implementation study" (INCO-DC EG, 1997 – 2001), "Diagnostic Tests for Tropical Diseases" (Biopartner First Stage Grant, 2005-2007), "Multi-disciplinary studies of human schistosomiasis in Uganda, Kenya and Mali: New perspectives on morbidity, immunity, treatment and control" (INCO EU, 2006 – 2010), and “Enhancing the CAA Assay for Diagnosis of Schistosomiasis” (SCORE, 2010 – currently). Overall, Dr. van Dam has experience for 25 years in research on schistosome circulating antigens and development of highly sensitive and specific immunodiagnostic assays, including field-applicable assays. One of the tests is now outsourced to a company in South-Africa and available as a commercial assay (urine POC-CCA, www.rapid-diagnostics.com).