Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Research Interests
Genomics/multi-omics; systems biology; malaria; Plasmodium; Trichomonas; STIs; women's reproductive health
Experiences & Accomplishments
Dr Jane Carlton is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and Director of the Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is passionate about genomics and its power to transform the study of important global health diseases. Her areas of focus are malaria, which causes illness and death among disadvantaged people in low-income countries, and the sexually transmitted infection trichomoniasis, which affects men and women worldwide. Her research involves using comparative genomics – literally comparing genomes -- to probe the biology and evolution of the parasites that causes these diseases, and to find better ways for their surveillance, treatment, and control.
For 20 years she has worked in India most recently as Director of an NIH International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research based at six Indian institutions and with field sites in four different states. Composed of clinicians, basic scientists, social scientists, and field teams, the Center has been undertaking research on the changing epidemiology, transmission, genomics, and pathogenesis of malaria, while transferring technology and teaching and training the next generation of malariologists. More recently, a focus of the lab has been to use integrative methods to analyze high-dimensional multi-omics datasets generated from malaria patients in Ethiopia to study Plasmodium-host interactions. These multi-omics datasets are also being interrogated for proteins that may be better suited as targets for malaria parasite diagnostics.
Her research on comparative genomics of the sexually transmitted parasite Trichomonas vaginalis with related species in birds, pets, and livestock, has revealed genes involved in the evolution and spillover event of the parasite from animals to humans. Other collaborative studies involve interrogation of the T. vaginalis genome for biomarker discovery and development of better diagnostic tests.
Honors & Awards
1991 Royal Society of Great Britain Travel Award; William Dickson Travel Award
1993 Young Investigator Award, Scottish Universities Molecular Parasitology Group Summer Meeting
2004 Martin D. Rodbell Award, The Institute for Genomic Research, Maryland, USA
2005 Essential Science Indicator top 1% award for Plasmodium yoelii yoelii genome paper citations
2007 NYU School of Medicine Dean’s Honors 2007
2009 Thomson Reuters most cited papers in Microbiology published during last 2 years
2010 NYU School of Medicine Dean’s Honors 2010
2010 American Society of Parasitologists’ Stoll-Stunkard Memorial Award
2012 Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2018 Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professorship, New York University
2024 Honorary Fellow, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
2024 Bloomberg Distinguished Fellow, Johns Hopkins University
2025 Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
Select Publications
Selected publications.
Carlton JM, Angiuoli SV, Suh BB, Kooij TW, Pertea M, Silva JC, Ermolaeva MD, Allen JE, Selengut JD, Koo HL, Peterson JD, Pop M, Kosack DS, Shumway MF, Bidwell SL, Shallom SJ, van Aken SE, Riedmuller SB, Feldblyum TV, Cho JK, Quackenbush J, Sedegah M, Shoaibi A, Cummings LM, Florens L, Yates JR, Raine JD, Sinden RE, Harris MA, Cunningham DA, Preiser PR, Bergman LW, Vaidya AB, van Lin LH, Janse CJ, Waters AP, Smith HO, White OR, Salzberg SL, Venter JC, Fraser CM, Hoffman SL, Gardner MJ, Carucci DJ.Genome sequence and comparative analysis of the model rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium yoelii yoelii. Nature. 2002 Oct 3;419(6906):512-9.
Carlton JM, Hirt RP, Silva JC, Delcher AL, Schatz M, Zhao Q, Wortman JR, Bidwell SL, Alsmark UC, Besteiro S, Sicheritz-Ponten T, Noel CJ, Dacks JB, Foster PG, Simillion C, Van de Peer Y, Miranda-Saavedra D, Barton GJ, Westrop GD, Muller S, Dessi D, Fiori PL, Ren Q, Paulsen I, Zhang H, Bastida-Corcuera FD, Simoes-Barbosa A, Brown MT, Hayes RD, Mukherjee M, Okumura CY, Schneider R, Smith AJ, Vanacova S, Villalvazo M, Haas BJ, Pertea M, Feldblyum TV, Utterback TR, Shu CL, Osoegawa K, de Jong PJ, Hrdy I, Horvathova L, Zubacova Z, Dolezal P, Malik SB, Logsdon JM Jr, Henze K, Gupta A, Wang CC, Dunne RL, Upcroft JA, Upcroft P, White O, Salzberg SL, Tang P, Chiu CH, Lee YS, Embley TM, Coombs GH, Mottram JC, Tachezy J, Fraser-Liggett CM, Johnson PJ. Draft genome sequence of the sexually transmitted pathogen Trichomonas vaginalis. Science. 2007 Jan 12;315(5809):207-12.
Carlton JM, Adams JH, Silva JC, Bidwell SL, Lorenzi H, Caler E, Crabtree J, Angiuoli SV, Merino EF, Amedeo P, Cheng Q, Coulson RM, Crabb BS, Del Portillo HA, Essien K, Feldblyum TV, Fernandez-Becerra C, Gilson PR, Gueye AH, Guo X, Kang'a S, Kooij TW, Korsinczky M, Meyer EV, Nene V, Paulsen I, White O, Ralph SA, Ren Q, Sargeant TJ, Salzberg SL, Stoeckert CJ, Sullivan SA, Yamamoto MM, Hoffman SL, Wortman JR, Gardner MJ, Galinski MR, Barnwell JW, Fraser-Liggett CM. Comparative genomics of the neglected human malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax. Nature. 2008 Oct 9;455(7214):757-63.
Hupalo DN, Luo Z, Melnikov A, Sutton PL, Rogov P, Escalante A, Vallejo AF, Herrera S, Arévalo-Herrera M, Fan Q, Wang Y, Cui L, Lucas CM, Durand S, Sanchez JF, Baldeviano GC, Lescano AG, Laman M, Barnadas C, Barry A, Mueller I, Kazura JW, Eapen A, Kanagaraj D, Valecha N, Ferreira MU, Roobsoong W, Nguitragool W, Sattabonkot J, Gamboa D, Kosek M, Vinetz JM, González-Cerón L, Birren BW, Neafsey DE, Carlton JM. Population genomics studies identify signatures of global dispersal and drug resistance in Plasmodium vivax. Nat Genet. 2016 Aug;48(8):953-8
Carlton JM, Sahu PK, Wassmer SC, Mohanty S, Kessler A, Eapen A, Tomko SS, Walton C, Joshi PL, Das D, Albert S, Peter BK, Pradhan MM, Dash AP, Das A. The Impact, Emerging Needs, and New Research Questions Arising from 12 Years of the Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2022 Oct 11;107(4_Suppl):90-96. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-1277. PMID: 36228922.