Published by the International Society of Protistologists
The Journal of
Eukaryotic Microbiology
Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology ISSN 1066-5234
IN MEMORIAM
In Memoriam: Eduardo Dei-Cas (1945–2014) cile-Marie Aliouat-Denisa,b Ce a Faculty of Pharmacy – University of Lille 2 – Parasitology Department, 3, rue du Pr Laguesse BP83, Lille, 59006, France b Pasteur Institute of Lille – Biology and Diversity of Emerging Eukaryotic Pathogens (BDEEP), 1, rue du Pr. Calmette BP245, Lille, 59019, France
Eduardo Dei-Cas, one of the leading parasitologists studying the opportunistic fungus Pneumocystis, died in Tournai, Belgium on January 12, 2014, after a 2-yr fight against a terrible illness. Born in Montevideo (Uruguay), on October 1, 1945, he studied both Biology (Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias) and Medicine (Facultad de Medicina) at the Universi blica, Montevideo. On May 12, 1966, he dad de la Repu married Norah Giraldi, Professor of Hispanic languages (University of Lille 3) and who was decorated for services to education. They had four daughters, Paula (Montevideo, 1969), Beatriz (Montevideo, 1971), Mathilde (Tourcoing, (Tourcoing, 1980). 1978), and Chloe The medical training of Eduardo Dei-Cas started with Prof. J.E. Mackinnon, a prestigious mycologist, and Prof. J.J. Osimani, a main contributor to understanding toxoplasmosis in Uruguay. Both professors successively headed the Parasitology-Mycology Department at the Faculty of blica between 1960 and Medicine, Universidad de la Repu 1974.1 From them, Eduardo Dei-Cas learned medical mycology diagnosis and the fascinating biology of Spirometra cestodes. In 1969, Eduardo Dei-Cas also became a col~e -Garzo n, a renowned specialist of laborator of Prof. F. Man South-American trematodes, who shared with him his passion for the zoology of invertebrates and taught him about rigors in scientific research. In this laboratory, Eduardo DeiCas studied three organisms of the Rio de la Plata estuary: (i) the anatomy of nemertine organisms which are free-living aceolomates, (ii) the adaptation of the polychaete annelid Nereis succinea and the crab Chasmagnathus granulata to salinity changes. He graduated in Biology in 1973 and was granted the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1975. At that time, he also registered at the school of fine arts to take evening classes as he had a passion for music and plastic arts (Fig. 1). Eduardo Dei-Cas had always been keen to pass on his knowledge and at the age of 23, he started to
Correspondence cile-Marie Aliouat-Denis, email: [email protected] Ce
This in memoriam is written on behalf of his international colleagues (Chili, Spain, England, and USA), his colleagues of the BDEEP team (Biology and Diversity of Emerging Eukaryotic Pathogens) and his family. 1 tat in Uruguay, most of the tenured In 1974, following a coup d’e blica were dismissed by professors of the Universidad de la Repu the leaders of the last dictatorship.
556
Eduardo Dei-Cas (Institut Pasteur de Lille, 2009).
teach natural history and biology to undergraduate students (1968–1975). During that period, he also taught parasitology, zoological taxonomy, and invertebrate zoology at the Facultad de Medicina and the Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias of Montevideo. To pursue his graduate studies, Eduardo Dei-Cas applied to undertake a Ph.D. in Parasitology abroad. He received a grant from the French government (1975–1977) and soon was welcomed to study parasitology with Pr. J. Biguet (Fa de Me decine, Universite Droit et Sante , Lille, France) culte de Pharmacie, Universite Droit and Pr. S. Deblock (Faculte , Lille, France). He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1978 et Sante under the direction of Pr. M. Durchon and Pr. N. Dhainaut des Sciences et Techniques, Lille, France). The (Universite subject of his thesis was the nervous system and parenchyma of the flatworm Schistosoma mansoni adult form. The same year, he was given official permission to practice medicine in France. In 1976, he joined the INSERM research unit 42 (Biochimie et Biologie Parasitaires et Fongiques, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France) headed by Pr. A. Vernes (later by Pr. D. Camus) where he worked on malaria. This experience allowed him to witness the in vitro cultures of Plasmodium falciparum (thanks to William Trager, who was the first to succeed in culturing P. falciparum in 1979) and to study the mechanisms of action of antimalarial drugs,
© 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2014, 61, 556–559
In Memoriam
In Memoriam
Figure 1 Some examples of the passion of Eduardo Dei-Cas who drew with tenderness everything around him. The rat and rabbit are of course a hint at Pneumocystis carinii and P. oryctolagi.
the process of drug resistance, the variation in gametocyte infectivity, and malarial physiopathology. He had also worked with Pr. J. Fruit and Pr. D. Poulain, in developing mycological expertise as the impact of these opportunistic, immunodeficiency-dependent diseases was increasing in the population. In 1985, he was appointed associate professor in Parasitology and Medical Mycology at the Faculty of Medicine and medical practitioner at the University Regional Hospital Center of Lille (University of Lille 2, France). In 1986, he created a research team focusing on Pneumocystis with the support of Pr. D. Camus, who was head of INSERM-U42 at the time and who was an expert in parasite immunology. Pneumocystis drew the attention of the medical community during the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s because the resulting pneumonia (called PcP for Pneumocystis Pneumonia) was the earliest and most frequent clinical manifestation of AIDS. The team thus received financial support from national AIDS agencies (Sidaction, Association Nationale de Recherche pour le SIDA), and the French ministry of research (Programme de Recherche Fondamentale en Microbiologie et Maladies Infectieuses et Parasitaires, PRFMMIP). With the help of n Prof. A.E. Wakefield (Oxford, UK) and Pr. E. Caldero
(Seville, Spain), Eduardo Dei-Cas succeeded in federating the research efforts on Pneumocystis in Europe (BIOMED-1 in 1994–1997, Eurocarinii in 2000–2004). In the meantime, he was also invited to share his expertise in several working groups on AIDS management (1996– 1998). For nearly 30 yr, he and his team made an enormous contribution to our understanding of Pneumocystis basic biology by setting up reproducible short-term culture systems and animal models of pneumocystosis, uncovering the fine Pneumocystis ultrastructure and life cycle, demonstrating the Pneumocystis narrow host-specificity and describing a new Pneumocystis species, participating in the strengthening of Pneumocystis taxonomic position as a fungus and finally showing that immunocompetent hosts can transmit Pneumocystis to secondary hosts. In 1998, the team moved to the Pasteur Institute of Lille and Eduardo Dei-Cas expanded his field of research by studying another opportunistic agent, the protozoon parasite Cryptosporidium. A national hospital network (CryptoAnofel) was set up to collect human Cryptosporidium samples, which allowed the study of Cryptosporidium genetic diversity. A murine animal model of cryptosporidiosis was also developed. Interestingly, using this animal model, the team demonstrated that a single oocyst of Cryptosporidium parvum could elicit cryptosporidiosis and that the infection could later lead to the development of digestive adenocarcinoma. His research activities on Cryptosporidium also led Eduardo Dei-Cas to devote some of his time to public health issues. In 1999, he became a member of the working group that developed normalized methods to detect Cryptosporidium oocysts in water, and eggs of pathogenic helminths in sewage sludge (French association for normalization, AFNOR). He was also appointed as curite an expert at the ANSES (Agence Nationale de Se Sanitaire, the French food quality agency), was a member of the ANSES working group focusing on food- and waterborne protozoan infections and, in 1997, he was consultant for the CSHSP (superior committee of public hygiene, the French ministry of health). All these contributions took their roots in the never failing open-minded and collaborative spirit that led Eduardo Dei-Cas to share and discuss his ideas with colleagues from Europe, North, Central and South America, and South-East Asia. He participated actively to nearly all International Workshops for Opportunistic Protists (IWOP) since their creation in 1988 (Bristol) and he organized one of them in Lille (1997). In 2009, he organized, together n, a commemorative conference to celwith Pr. E. Caldero ebrate the first centenary of the discovery of Pneumocystis (supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Spanish ministry of science and innovation and the European Commission). Many of the leading researchers in the Pneumocystis field came to Brussels for this event. At the European Multicolloquium of Parasitology (Xth EMOP, Paris, 2008), he was the president of the scientific committee and proposed an outstanding scientific program that greatly contributed to the success of the EMOP, attended by around 800 scientists.
© 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2014, 61, 556–559
557
In Memoriam
In Memoriam
He shared his knowledge in Parasitology and Medical Mycology with many students in France and around the world and was invited on many occasions to the Netherlands (Pr. S. De Hoog, CBS, Fungal Biodiversity Center, Utrecht), Mexico (Prof. M.L. Taylor, Facultad de Medicina, noma de Me xico, UNAM), Chile Universidad Nacional Auto (Prof. Sergio Vargas, University of Chile, Santiago), Lebanon (Dr. M. Hamze, Lebanese University, AZM Research Center, Tripoli, and St Joseph University, Beirut), Argentina (Dr. C.E. Canteros, INEI-ANLIS, National Institute of Infectious Diseases), Congo, and Gabon to give lectures as well as practical training on these topics. Most of his students have succeeded in gaining permanent position as researchers and/or medical practitioners. Lately (2010), Eduardo Dei-Cas coordinated a network of eight French laboratories targeting fish parasites with impact on both consumer health and the quality of seafood to better identify the hazards and to define prevention strategies. In the context of this research program, he did not hesitate to take part in a fish sampling campaign on board La Thalassa (Ifremer oceanographic ship) for 12 d in line with his appointment as an expert by the FAO to evaluate the risk due to fish parasites in Morocco. The same year, he was appointed as a corresponding academic member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery in Cadiz, Spain. The scientific achievements of Eduardo Dei-Cas would not be complete without mentioning his involvement in the ethical reflection on the research he conducted. During almost 15 yr, he participated as a member of the Center of Medical Ethics (CME, Catholic Institute of Lille) to several seminars around ethics and biology and was particularly interested in the debate around emergence and reductionism. He got involved in the organization of a workshop on the evidence-based medicine and actively contributed to the development and management of a university diploma devoted to the ethics of research. In 2005, he became associate member of the team “Ethics of clinical research” and took part in a seminar on predictive medicine organized by the CME and the University of Lille 2. Of special interest was his conference entitled “Should congenital toxoplasmosis be prevented?”. At the Xth EMOP (2008), he organized a symposium focusing on ethical and epistemological questions in parasitology. Then, under the direction of Pr. F. Worms, he became part of the teaching team of a seminar dealing with the ethics of the living (Phylosophy research unit, university of Lille 3). In 2012, under Eduardo’s strong leadership, a thematic group named “Ethics and Research” was organized at the Espace Ethique Hospitalier et Universitaire of Lille (E.E.H.U, university of Lille 2, France). It aims at questioning the role of the researcher (from fundamental research to clinical applications) in the Life and Health sciences in the context of a University Hospital Center in the 21st century. Eduardo Dei-Cas disliked looking in the rear-view mirror. His passing, however painful, should not prevent us from going forward and continuing what he initiated with so much energy and passion. As he wrote in 2003, looking
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back at his career: “Faced with pathological cases or fascinating biological facts, I endeavor to associate erudition and daring in the formulation and application of hypotheses and theories with a strong sense of efficiency, either in the medical practice or in scientific production. This is for me the gold standard of the medical doctor, researcher, hospital and university member.” « Devant des cas pathologiques ou des faits biologiques rudition et l’audace fascinants, je m’efforce a ce que l’e ses et de dans la formulation et l’application d’hypothe ories soient associe es a un sens pousse de l’efficacite , the dicale que sur celui de la tant sur le plan de la pratique me gle production scientifique. Ceci est devenu pour moi la re decin-chercheur hospitalo-universitaire. » d’or du me SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Aliouat, E. M., Mazars, E., Dei-Cas, E., Cesbron, J. Y. & Camus, D. 1993. Intranasal inoculation of mouse, rat or rabbit-derived Pneumocystis in SCID mice. J. Protozool. Res., 3:94–98. Aliouat, E. M., Mazars, E., Dei-Cas, E., Delcourt, P., Billaut, P. & Camus, D. 1994. Pneumocystis cross infection experiments using SCID mice and Nude rats as recipient host, showed strong host-species specificity. J. Eukaryot. Microbiol., 41S:71. Benamrouz, S., Guyot, K., Gazzola, S., Mourray, A., Chassat, T., , M., Gosset, P., Viscogliosi, E., Dei-Cas, E., Delaire, B., Chabe Creusy, C., Conseil, V. & Certad, G. 2012. Cryptosporidium parvum infection in SCID mice infected with only one oocyst: qPCR assessment of parasite replication in tissues and development of digestive cancer. PLoS ONE, 7:e51232. Boury, D. & Dei-Cas, E. 2008. Current bioethical issues in parasitology. Parasite, 15:489–494. Boury, D., Deschamps, C., Dante-Menozzi, F., Raze, D., Vandenbunder, B., de Bouvet, A. & Dei-Cas, E. 2005. Biomedical research: the debate on the reduction and emergence concepts. Ann. Biol. Clin. (Paris), 63:573–579. n, E. J., Gutie rrez-Rivero, S., Durand-Joly, I. & Dei-Cas, E. Caldero 2010. Pneumocystis infection in humans: diagnosis and treatment. Expert. Rev. Anti Infect., 8:683–701. Certad, G., Creusy, C., Ngouanesavanh, T. M., Guyot, K., Gantois, N., Mouray, A., Chassat, T., Flament, N., Fleurisse, L., Pinon, A., Delhaes, L. & Dei-Cas, E. 2010. Development of Cryptosporidium parvum induced gastro-intestinal neoplasia in SCID mice: severity of lesions is correlated with infection intensity. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 82:257–265. Dei-Cas, E., Aliouat, E. M. & Cailliez, J. C. 2004. Pneumocystis Cellular Structure. In: Walzer, P. D. & Cushion, M. T. (ed.), Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia. Marcel Dekker Inc, New York, NY. p. 61–94. Dei-Cas, E., Brun-Pascaud, M., Bille-Hansen, V., Allaert, A. & Aliouat, E. M. 1998. Animal models of pneumocystosis. FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol., 22:163–168. , M., Moukhlis, R., Durand-Joly, I., Aliouat, E. Dei-Cas, E., Chabe €l, C., de Hoog, S. G., M., Stringer, J. R., Cushion, M. T., Noe Guillot, J. & Viscogliosi, E. 2006. Pneumocystis oryctolagi sp. nov., an uncultured fungus causing pneumonia in rabbits at weaning: review of current knowledge, and description of a new taxon on genotypic, phylogenetic and phenotypic bases. FEMS Microbiol. Rev., 30:853–871. Dei-Cas, E., Delerue, S., Leroux, N., Vernes, A. & Biguet, J. 1982. veloppement et variations de Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. De volume dans des milieux hypo et hyperosmolaires. Protistologica, 18:23–31.
© 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2014, 61, 556–559
In Memoriam
In Memoriam
Dei-Cas, E., Dhainaut-Courtois, N. & Vernes, A. 1980. Contribution a l’e tude du syste me nerveux des formes adultes et larvaires de Schistosoma mansoni Sambon 1907 (Trematoda Digenea). I. Aspects morphologiques: anatomie, histologie et ultrastructure chez la forme adulte. Ann. Parasitol. Hum. Comp., 55:69–86. Dei-Cas, E., Fruit, J., Poulain, D., Dutoit, E., Chendid, H. & Ver ces concerne es et connes, A. 1984. Infections a levures: espe centrations minimales inhibitrices des antifongiques usuels. Ann. Biol. Clin., 42:415–418. ~e -Garzo n, F. 1973. Heteronereidizacion de NeDei-Cas, E. & Man reis succinea Leuckart en el Rio de la Plata. Trabajos V Congreso Latinoamericano de Zoologıa I, 72–84. Dei-Cas, E., Slomianny, C., Charet, P., Prensier, G., Ajana, F., Ramage, C. & Vernes, A. 1987. In vitro growth and chloroquine sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum (FCR-3 strain) in red blood cells containing HbC. Parasitol. Res., 73:306–312. Dei-Cas, E. & Vernes, A. 1986. Parasitic adaptation of pathogenic fungi to the mammalian hosts. CRC Crit. Rev. Microbiol., 13:173–218. guy, N., Gargallo-Viola, D., Vargas, Dumoulin, A., Mazars, E., Se S., Cailliez, J. C., Aliouat, E. M., Wakefield, A. E. & Dei-Cas, E. 2000. Transmission of Pneumocystis carinii disease from immunocompetent contacts of infected hosts to susceptible hosts. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis., 19:671–678. Camus, D., Poulain, D. & Dei-Cas, E. 1989. New methods for the diagnosis of opportunistic infections in immunosuppressed patients: candidiasis and Pneumocystosis. In: Revillard, J. P. & Wierzbicki, N. (ed.),‘Immune Disorders and Opportunistic
Infections’. Local Immunity, Vol. 5. Fondation Franco-Allemande, Suresnes, France. p. 266–277. , M., Dei-Cas, E., Creusy, C., Fleurisse, L., Respaldiza, N., Chabe Camus, D. & Durand-Joly, I. 2004. Immunocompetent hosts as a reservoir of Pneumocystis organisms: histological and RT-PCR data demonstrate active replication. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis., 23:89–97. Charet, P., Dei-Cas, E., Prensier, G., Moreau, S., Slomianny, C. & Vernes, A. 1985. Plasmodium resistance to chloroquine: a new hypothesis. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg., 79:140. European Concerted Action on Pneumocystis carinii 1996. In vitro systems in Pneumocystis research. Parasitol. Today, 12:245– 249. , M., StandaertMartinez, A., Halliez, M. C., Aliouat, E. M., Chabe alle, E., Gantois, N., Pottier, M., Pinon, A., DeiVitse, A., Fre Cas, E. & Aliouat-Denis, C. M. 2013. Growth and airborne transmission of cell-sorted life cycle stages of Pneumocystis carinii. PLoS ONE, 8:e79958. Maurois, P., Vernes, A., Charet, P. & Dei-Cas, E. 1978. Transient changes in serum lipoproteins during malariatherapie and malaria. Lancet, 2:629. Palluault, F., Pietrzyck, B., Dei-Cas, E., Slomianny, C., Soulez, B. & Camus, D. 1991. Three-dimensional reconstruction of rabbitderived Pneumocystis carinii. I. Trophozoite. J. Protozool., 38:402–407. Palluault, F., Pietrzyck, B., Dei-Cas, E., Slomianny, C., Soulez, B. & Camus, D. 1991. Three-dimensional reconstruction of rabbitderived Pneumocystis carinii. II. Intermediate precyst. J. Protozool., 38:407–411.
© 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2014, 61, 556–559
559
The Journal of
Eukaryotic Microbiology
Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology ISSN 1066-5234
IN MEMORIAM
In Memoriam: Eduardo Dei-Cas (1945–2014) cile-Marie Aliouat-Denisa,b Ce a Faculty of Pharmacy – University of Lille 2 – Parasitology Department, 3, rue du Pr Laguesse BP83, Lille, 59006, France b Pasteur Institute of Lille – Biology and Diversity of Emerging Eukaryotic Pathogens (BDEEP), 1, rue du Pr. Calmette BP245, Lille, 59019, France
Eduardo Dei-Cas, one of the leading parasitologists studying the opportunistic fungus Pneumocystis, died in Tournai, Belgium on January 12, 2014, after a 2-yr fight against a terrible illness. Born in Montevideo (Uruguay), on October 1, 1945, he studied both Biology (Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias) and Medicine (Facultad de Medicina) at the Universi blica, Montevideo. On May 12, 1966, he dad de la Repu married Norah Giraldi, Professor of Hispanic languages (University of Lille 3) and who was decorated for services to education. They had four daughters, Paula (Montevideo, 1969), Beatriz (Montevideo, 1971), Mathilde (Tourcoing, (Tourcoing, 1980). 1978), and Chloe The medical training of Eduardo Dei-Cas started with Prof. J.E. Mackinnon, a prestigious mycologist, and Prof. J.J. Osimani, a main contributor to understanding toxoplasmosis in Uruguay. Both professors successively headed the Parasitology-Mycology Department at the Faculty of blica between 1960 and Medicine, Universidad de la Repu 1974.1 From them, Eduardo Dei-Cas learned medical mycology diagnosis and the fascinating biology of Spirometra cestodes. In 1969, Eduardo Dei-Cas also became a col~e -Garzo n, a renowned specialist of laborator of Prof. F. Man South-American trematodes, who shared with him his passion for the zoology of invertebrates and taught him about rigors in scientific research. In this laboratory, Eduardo DeiCas studied three organisms of the Rio de la Plata estuary: (i) the anatomy of nemertine organisms which are free-living aceolomates, (ii) the adaptation of the polychaete annelid Nereis succinea and the crab Chasmagnathus granulata to salinity changes. He graduated in Biology in 1973 and was granted the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1975. At that time, he also registered at the school of fine arts to take evening classes as he had a passion for music and plastic arts (Fig. 1). Eduardo Dei-Cas had always been keen to pass on his knowledge and at the age of 23, he started to
Correspondence cile-Marie Aliouat-Denis, email: [email protected] Ce
This in memoriam is written on behalf of his international colleagues (Chili, Spain, England, and USA), his colleagues of the BDEEP team (Biology and Diversity of Emerging Eukaryotic Pathogens) and his family. 1 tat in Uruguay, most of the tenured In 1974, following a coup d’e blica were dismissed by professors of the Universidad de la Repu the leaders of the last dictatorship.
556
Eduardo Dei-Cas (Institut Pasteur de Lille, 2009).
teach natural history and biology to undergraduate students (1968–1975). During that period, he also taught parasitology, zoological taxonomy, and invertebrate zoology at the Facultad de Medicina and the Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias of Montevideo. To pursue his graduate studies, Eduardo Dei-Cas applied to undertake a Ph.D. in Parasitology abroad. He received a grant from the French government (1975–1977) and soon was welcomed to study parasitology with Pr. J. Biguet (Fa de Me decine, Universite Droit et Sante , Lille, France) culte de Pharmacie, Universite Droit and Pr. S. Deblock (Faculte , Lille, France). He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1978 et Sante under the direction of Pr. M. Durchon and Pr. N. Dhainaut des Sciences et Techniques, Lille, France). The (Universite subject of his thesis was the nervous system and parenchyma of the flatworm Schistosoma mansoni adult form. The same year, he was given official permission to practice medicine in France. In 1976, he joined the INSERM research unit 42 (Biochimie et Biologie Parasitaires et Fongiques, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France) headed by Pr. A. Vernes (later by Pr. D. Camus) where he worked on malaria. This experience allowed him to witness the in vitro cultures of Plasmodium falciparum (thanks to William Trager, who was the first to succeed in culturing P. falciparum in 1979) and to study the mechanisms of action of antimalarial drugs,
© 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2014, 61, 556–559
In Memoriam
In Memoriam
Figure 1 Some examples of the passion of Eduardo Dei-Cas who drew with tenderness everything around him. The rat and rabbit are of course a hint at Pneumocystis carinii and P. oryctolagi.
the process of drug resistance, the variation in gametocyte infectivity, and malarial physiopathology. He had also worked with Pr. J. Fruit and Pr. D. Poulain, in developing mycological expertise as the impact of these opportunistic, immunodeficiency-dependent diseases was increasing in the population. In 1985, he was appointed associate professor in Parasitology and Medical Mycology at the Faculty of Medicine and medical practitioner at the University Regional Hospital Center of Lille (University of Lille 2, France). In 1986, he created a research team focusing on Pneumocystis with the support of Pr. D. Camus, who was head of INSERM-U42 at the time and who was an expert in parasite immunology. Pneumocystis drew the attention of the medical community during the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s because the resulting pneumonia (called PcP for Pneumocystis Pneumonia) was the earliest and most frequent clinical manifestation of AIDS. The team thus received financial support from national AIDS agencies (Sidaction, Association Nationale de Recherche pour le SIDA), and the French ministry of research (Programme de Recherche Fondamentale en Microbiologie et Maladies Infectieuses et Parasitaires, PRFMMIP). With the help of n Prof. A.E. Wakefield (Oxford, UK) and Pr. E. Caldero
(Seville, Spain), Eduardo Dei-Cas succeeded in federating the research efforts on Pneumocystis in Europe (BIOMED-1 in 1994–1997, Eurocarinii in 2000–2004). In the meantime, he was also invited to share his expertise in several working groups on AIDS management (1996– 1998). For nearly 30 yr, he and his team made an enormous contribution to our understanding of Pneumocystis basic biology by setting up reproducible short-term culture systems and animal models of pneumocystosis, uncovering the fine Pneumocystis ultrastructure and life cycle, demonstrating the Pneumocystis narrow host-specificity and describing a new Pneumocystis species, participating in the strengthening of Pneumocystis taxonomic position as a fungus and finally showing that immunocompetent hosts can transmit Pneumocystis to secondary hosts. In 1998, the team moved to the Pasteur Institute of Lille and Eduardo Dei-Cas expanded his field of research by studying another opportunistic agent, the protozoon parasite Cryptosporidium. A national hospital network (CryptoAnofel) was set up to collect human Cryptosporidium samples, which allowed the study of Cryptosporidium genetic diversity. A murine animal model of cryptosporidiosis was also developed. Interestingly, using this animal model, the team demonstrated that a single oocyst of Cryptosporidium parvum could elicit cryptosporidiosis and that the infection could later lead to the development of digestive adenocarcinoma. His research activities on Cryptosporidium also led Eduardo Dei-Cas to devote some of his time to public health issues. In 1999, he became a member of the working group that developed normalized methods to detect Cryptosporidium oocysts in water, and eggs of pathogenic helminths in sewage sludge (French association for normalization, AFNOR). He was also appointed as curite an expert at the ANSES (Agence Nationale de Se Sanitaire, the French food quality agency), was a member of the ANSES working group focusing on food- and waterborne protozoan infections and, in 1997, he was consultant for the CSHSP (superior committee of public hygiene, the French ministry of health). All these contributions took their roots in the never failing open-minded and collaborative spirit that led Eduardo Dei-Cas to share and discuss his ideas with colleagues from Europe, North, Central and South America, and South-East Asia. He participated actively to nearly all International Workshops for Opportunistic Protists (IWOP) since their creation in 1988 (Bristol) and he organized one of them in Lille (1997). In 2009, he organized, together n, a commemorative conference to celwith Pr. E. Caldero ebrate the first centenary of the discovery of Pneumocystis (supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Spanish ministry of science and innovation and the European Commission). Many of the leading researchers in the Pneumocystis field came to Brussels for this event. At the European Multicolloquium of Parasitology (Xth EMOP, Paris, 2008), he was the president of the scientific committee and proposed an outstanding scientific program that greatly contributed to the success of the EMOP, attended by around 800 scientists.
© 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2014, 61, 556–559
557
In Memoriam
In Memoriam
He shared his knowledge in Parasitology and Medical Mycology with many students in France and around the world and was invited on many occasions to the Netherlands (Pr. S. De Hoog, CBS, Fungal Biodiversity Center, Utrecht), Mexico (Prof. M.L. Taylor, Facultad de Medicina, noma de Me xico, UNAM), Chile Universidad Nacional Auto (Prof. Sergio Vargas, University of Chile, Santiago), Lebanon (Dr. M. Hamze, Lebanese University, AZM Research Center, Tripoli, and St Joseph University, Beirut), Argentina (Dr. C.E. Canteros, INEI-ANLIS, National Institute of Infectious Diseases), Congo, and Gabon to give lectures as well as practical training on these topics. Most of his students have succeeded in gaining permanent position as researchers and/or medical practitioners. Lately (2010), Eduardo Dei-Cas coordinated a network of eight French laboratories targeting fish parasites with impact on both consumer health and the quality of seafood to better identify the hazards and to define prevention strategies. In the context of this research program, he did not hesitate to take part in a fish sampling campaign on board La Thalassa (Ifremer oceanographic ship) for 12 d in line with his appointment as an expert by the FAO to evaluate the risk due to fish parasites in Morocco. The same year, he was appointed as a corresponding academic member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery in Cadiz, Spain. The scientific achievements of Eduardo Dei-Cas would not be complete without mentioning his involvement in the ethical reflection on the research he conducted. During almost 15 yr, he participated as a member of the Center of Medical Ethics (CME, Catholic Institute of Lille) to several seminars around ethics and biology and was particularly interested in the debate around emergence and reductionism. He got involved in the organization of a workshop on the evidence-based medicine and actively contributed to the development and management of a university diploma devoted to the ethics of research. In 2005, he became associate member of the team “Ethics of clinical research” and took part in a seminar on predictive medicine organized by the CME and the University of Lille 2. Of special interest was his conference entitled “Should congenital toxoplasmosis be prevented?”. At the Xth EMOP (2008), he organized a symposium focusing on ethical and epistemological questions in parasitology. Then, under the direction of Pr. F. Worms, he became part of the teaching team of a seminar dealing with the ethics of the living (Phylosophy research unit, university of Lille 3). In 2012, under Eduardo’s strong leadership, a thematic group named “Ethics and Research” was organized at the Espace Ethique Hospitalier et Universitaire of Lille (E.E.H.U, university of Lille 2, France). It aims at questioning the role of the researcher (from fundamental research to clinical applications) in the Life and Health sciences in the context of a University Hospital Center in the 21st century. Eduardo Dei-Cas disliked looking in the rear-view mirror. His passing, however painful, should not prevent us from going forward and continuing what he initiated with so much energy and passion. As he wrote in 2003, looking
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back at his career: “Faced with pathological cases or fascinating biological facts, I endeavor to associate erudition and daring in the formulation and application of hypotheses and theories with a strong sense of efficiency, either in the medical practice or in scientific production. This is for me the gold standard of the medical doctor, researcher, hospital and university member.” « Devant des cas pathologiques ou des faits biologiques rudition et l’audace fascinants, je m’efforce a ce que l’e ses et de dans la formulation et l’application d’hypothe ories soient associe es a un sens pousse de l’efficacite , the dicale que sur celui de la tant sur le plan de la pratique me gle production scientifique. Ceci est devenu pour moi la re decin-chercheur hospitalo-universitaire. » d’or du me SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Aliouat, E. M., Mazars, E., Dei-Cas, E., Cesbron, J. Y. & Camus, D. 1993. Intranasal inoculation of mouse, rat or rabbit-derived Pneumocystis in SCID mice. J. Protozool. Res., 3:94–98. Aliouat, E. M., Mazars, E., Dei-Cas, E., Delcourt, P., Billaut, P. & Camus, D. 1994. Pneumocystis cross infection experiments using SCID mice and Nude rats as recipient host, showed strong host-species specificity. J. Eukaryot. Microbiol., 41S:71. Benamrouz, S., Guyot, K., Gazzola, S., Mourray, A., Chassat, T., , M., Gosset, P., Viscogliosi, E., Dei-Cas, E., Delaire, B., Chabe Creusy, C., Conseil, V. & Certad, G. 2012. Cryptosporidium parvum infection in SCID mice infected with only one oocyst: qPCR assessment of parasite replication in tissues and development of digestive cancer. PLoS ONE, 7:e51232. Boury, D. & Dei-Cas, E. 2008. Current bioethical issues in parasitology. Parasite, 15:489–494. Boury, D., Deschamps, C., Dante-Menozzi, F., Raze, D., Vandenbunder, B., de Bouvet, A. & Dei-Cas, E. 2005. Biomedical research: the debate on the reduction and emergence concepts. Ann. Biol. Clin. (Paris), 63:573–579. n, E. J., Gutie rrez-Rivero, S., Durand-Joly, I. & Dei-Cas, E. Caldero 2010. Pneumocystis infection in humans: diagnosis and treatment. Expert. Rev. Anti Infect., 8:683–701. Certad, G., Creusy, C., Ngouanesavanh, T. M., Guyot, K., Gantois, N., Mouray, A., Chassat, T., Flament, N., Fleurisse, L., Pinon, A., Delhaes, L. & Dei-Cas, E. 2010. Development of Cryptosporidium parvum induced gastro-intestinal neoplasia in SCID mice: severity of lesions is correlated with infection intensity. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 82:257–265. Dei-Cas, E., Aliouat, E. M. & Cailliez, J. C. 2004. Pneumocystis Cellular Structure. In: Walzer, P. D. & Cushion, M. T. (ed.), Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia. Marcel Dekker Inc, New York, NY. p. 61–94. Dei-Cas, E., Brun-Pascaud, M., Bille-Hansen, V., Allaert, A. & Aliouat, E. M. 1998. Animal models of pneumocystosis. FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol., 22:163–168. , M., Moukhlis, R., Durand-Joly, I., Aliouat, E. Dei-Cas, E., Chabe €l, C., de Hoog, S. G., M., Stringer, J. R., Cushion, M. T., Noe Guillot, J. & Viscogliosi, E. 2006. Pneumocystis oryctolagi sp. nov., an uncultured fungus causing pneumonia in rabbits at weaning: review of current knowledge, and description of a new taxon on genotypic, phylogenetic and phenotypic bases. FEMS Microbiol. Rev., 30:853–871. Dei-Cas, E., Delerue, S., Leroux, N., Vernes, A. & Biguet, J. 1982. veloppement et variations de Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. De volume dans des milieux hypo et hyperosmolaires. Protistologica, 18:23–31.
© 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2014, 61, 556–559
In Memoriam
In Memoriam
Dei-Cas, E., Dhainaut-Courtois, N. & Vernes, A. 1980. Contribution a l’e tude du syste me nerveux des formes adultes et larvaires de Schistosoma mansoni Sambon 1907 (Trematoda Digenea). I. Aspects morphologiques: anatomie, histologie et ultrastructure chez la forme adulte. Ann. Parasitol. Hum. Comp., 55:69–86. Dei-Cas, E., Fruit, J., Poulain, D., Dutoit, E., Chendid, H. & Ver ces concerne es et connes, A. 1984. Infections a levures: espe centrations minimales inhibitrices des antifongiques usuels. Ann. Biol. Clin., 42:415–418. ~e -Garzo n, F. 1973. Heteronereidizacion de NeDei-Cas, E. & Man reis succinea Leuckart en el Rio de la Plata. Trabajos V Congreso Latinoamericano de Zoologıa I, 72–84. Dei-Cas, E., Slomianny, C., Charet, P., Prensier, G., Ajana, F., Ramage, C. & Vernes, A. 1987. In vitro growth and chloroquine sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum (FCR-3 strain) in red blood cells containing HbC. Parasitol. Res., 73:306–312. Dei-Cas, E. & Vernes, A. 1986. Parasitic adaptation of pathogenic fungi to the mammalian hosts. CRC Crit. Rev. Microbiol., 13:173–218. guy, N., Gargallo-Viola, D., Vargas, Dumoulin, A., Mazars, E., Se S., Cailliez, J. C., Aliouat, E. M., Wakefield, A. E. & Dei-Cas, E. 2000. Transmission of Pneumocystis carinii disease from immunocompetent contacts of infected hosts to susceptible hosts. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis., 19:671–678. Camus, D., Poulain, D. & Dei-Cas, E. 1989. New methods for the diagnosis of opportunistic infections in immunosuppressed patients: candidiasis and Pneumocystosis. In: Revillard, J. P. & Wierzbicki, N. (ed.),‘Immune Disorders and Opportunistic
Infections’. Local Immunity, Vol. 5. Fondation Franco-Allemande, Suresnes, France. p. 266–277. , M., Dei-Cas, E., Creusy, C., Fleurisse, L., Respaldiza, N., Chabe Camus, D. & Durand-Joly, I. 2004. Immunocompetent hosts as a reservoir of Pneumocystis organisms: histological and RT-PCR data demonstrate active replication. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis., 23:89–97. Charet, P., Dei-Cas, E., Prensier, G., Moreau, S., Slomianny, C. & Vernes, A. 1985. Plasmodium resistance to chloroquine: a new hypothesis. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg., 79:140. European Concerted Action on Pneumocystis carinii 1996. In vitro systems in Pneumocystis research. Parasitol. Today, 12:245– 249. , M., StandaertMartinez, A., Halliez, M. C., Aliouat, E. M., Chabe alle, E., Gantois, N., Pottier, M., Pinon, A., DeiVitse, A., Fre Cas, E. & Aliouat-Denis, C. M. 2013. Growth and airborne transmission of cell-sorted life cycle stages of Pneumocystis carinii. PLoS ONE, 8:e79958. Maurois, P., Vernes, A., Charet, P. & Dei-Cas, E. 1978. Transient changes in serum lipoproteins during malariatherapie and malaria. Lancet, 2:629. Palluault, F., Pietrzyck, B., Dei-Cas, E., Slomianny, C., Soulez, B. & Camus, D. 1991. Three-dimensional reconstruction of rabbitderived Pneumocystis carinii. I. Trophozoite. J. Protozool., 38:402–407. Palluault, F., Pietrzyck, B., Dei-Cas, E., Slomianny, C., Soulez, B. & Camus, D. 1991. Three-dimensional reconstruction of rabbitderived Pneumocystis carinii. II. Intermediate precyst. J. Protozool., 38:407–411.
© 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2014, 61, 556–559
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