Anavaj Sakuntabhai

Anavaj Sakuntabhai

Head, Functional Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute

Email: anavaj@pasteur.fr
Phone: 33 1 44 38 91 03

28 Rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris, France

Website

Dr. Anavaj Sakuntabhai is a researcher specializing in human genetics of infectious diseases. He received his MD from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand and completed post-doctoral training in Internal Medicine and Dermatology at the Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University. He also has a MD from the University of Newcastle in Tyne, UK.  Finally, he earned his PhD in Human Molecular Genetics from the University of Oxford. He joined the Institut Pasteur in Paris in 2000 as a Senior Scientist and in 2007 became the leader of the Laboratory of Genetics of Human Response to Infections. In 2010 he created and became the head of the Functional Genetics of Infectious Diseases Unit.

The Functional Genetics of Infectious Diseases unit studies the basis of human genetic susceptibility to major human pathogens. They currently focus on mosquito-borne infections (malaria and dengue). They aim to identify genes governing infection outcome and transmissibility, within two important contexts: 1) That of the pathogen exploitation of the host and maximization of onward transmission; 2) The environmental context, placing emphasis upon the exogenous factors that impact upon the within-host dynamic of the pathogen and thus influence the outcome of infection.

Recent Publications

• Jiravejchakul, N, Chan-In, W, Thuncharoen, W, DENFREE Thailand, Sungnak, W, Charoensawan, V et al.. Cytokine and chemokine kinetics in natural human dengue infection as predictors of disease outcome. Sci Rep. 2025;15 (1):15612. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-99628-y. PubMed PMID:40320430 PubMed Central PMC12050306.
• Casadémont, I, Ayala-Suárez, R, Modhiran, N, Tawfik, A, Prot, M, Paul, R et al.. miRNome analysis reveals mir-155-5p as a protective factor to dengue infection in a resistant Thai cohort. Med Microbiol Immunol. 2025;214 (1):13. doi: 10.1007/s00430-025-00821-7. PubMed PMID:39976655 PubMed Central PMC11842423.
• Roth, C, Pitard, B, Levillayer, L, Lay, S, Vo, HTM, Cantaert, T et al.. Zika virus T-cell based 704/DNA vaccine promotes protection from Zika virus infection in the absence of neutralizing antibodies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024;18 (10):e0012601. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012601. PubMed PMID:39418312 PubMed Central PMC11521268.
• Sene, O, Sagne, SN, Bob, NS, Mhamadi, M, Dieng, I, Gaye, A et al.. Re-Emergence of Rift Valley Fever Virus Lineage H in Senegal in 2022: In Vitro Characterization and Impact on Its Global Emergence in West Africa. Viruses. 2024;16 (7):. doi: 10.3390/v16071018. PubMed PMID:39066182 PubMed Central PMC11281490.
• Yean, S, Prasetyo, DB, Marcombe, S, Hadi, UK, Kazim, AR, Tiawsirisup, S et al.. Challenges for ticks and tick-borne diseases research in Southeast Asia: Insight from the first international symposium in Cambodia. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024;18 (7):e0012269. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012269. PubMed PMID:38985826 PubMed Central PMC11236135.
• Bertrand, A, Sugrue, J, Lou, T, Bourke, NM, Quintana-Murci, L, Saint-André, V et al.. Impact of socioeconomic status on healthy immune responses in humans. Immunol Cell Biol. 2024;102 (7):618-629. doi: 10.1111/imcb.12789. PubMed PMID:38862267 .
• Arora, JK, Matangkasombut, P, Charoensawan, V, Opasawatchai, A, DENFREE Thailand. Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the expansion of circulating tissue-homing B cell subsets in secondary acute dengue viral infection. Heliyon. 2024;10 (10):e30314. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30314. PubMed PMID:38818157 PubMed Central PMC11137366.
• Sann, S, Heng, B, Vo, HTM, Arroyo Hornero, R, Lay, S, Sorn, S et al.. Increased frequencies of highly activated regulatory T cells skewed to a T helper 1-like phenotype with reduced suppressive capacity in dengue patients. mBio. 2024;15 (6):e0006324. doi: 10.1128/mbio.00063-24. PubMed PMID:38752787 PubMed Central PMC11237415.
• Ngom, D, Khoulé, A, Faye, ET, Sène, O, Diop, SM, Sagne, SN et al.. Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever outbreak in Northern Senegal in 2022: Prevalence of the virus in livestock and ticks, associated risk factors and epidemiological implications. Zoonoses Public Health. 2024;71 (6):696-707. doi: 10.1111/zph.13136. PubMed PMID:38627964 PubMed Central PMC11368619.
• Levillayer, L, Brighelli, C, Demeret, C, Sakuntabhai, A, Bureau, JF. Role of two modules controlling the interaction between SKAP1 and SRC kinases comparison with SKAP2 architecture and consequences for evolution. PLoS One. 2024;19 (3):e0296230. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296230. PubMed PMID:38483858 PubMed Central PMC10939263.