Hassan Hakimi
Assistant Professor
Veterinary Parasitology
Phone: (785) 532-4610
Office: Coles Hall 338
Education
- DVM-University of Tehran, Iran
- MSc-Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan
- PhD-Gifu University United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu, Japan
- Post-Doctoral trainings: Nagasaki University, Texas A&M University
- Diplomate of American College of Veterinary Microbiologists-Parasitology
Teaching
I am a co-instructor for the Clinical Veterinary Parasitology course (DMP834) for 2nd year veterinary students.
Research Interests
Our lab’s primary research focus is on the functional genomics of important protozoan parasites of public health and veterinary medicine, including tick-borne pathogens Babesia and Theileria. We are especially interested in the molecular mechanisms that underpin parasite survival within host erythrocytes, including the identification and characterization of exported proteins and the export machinery responsible for their trafficking.
Functional studies of Babesia parasites have been hindered by the limited breadth of available genetic tools. We are at the forefront of developing genetic tools for these parasites. We recently established a CRISPR/Cas9 system as a robust genetic engineering platform for Babesia bovis. In addition, we adapted glmS riboswitch system for the conditional knockdown of gene-of-interest in B. bovis and applied these tools to functionally characterize our targets in Babesia genome.
A second line of our research focuses on Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis), a parasitic nematode that causes a debilitating disease in humans and targeted for global eradication. Our goal is to better understand immune response to Guinea worm antigens with the ultimate aim of developing diagnostic tools for detection of this neglected tropical disease parasite.
Selected Publications
Research papers
Hakimi H*, Yamagishi J, Sakaguchi M, Fathi A, Lee JS, Verocai GG, Kawazu S, Asada M (2025). ves1α genes expression is the major determinant of Babesia bovis-infected erythrocytes cytoadhesion to endothelial cells. PLoS Pathog 21(4): e1012583
Fathi A, Hakimi H, Sakaguchi M, Yamagishi J, Kawazu S, Asada M (2024). Critical role of Babesia bovis spherical body proteins 3 in ridge formation on infected red blood cells. PLoS Pathog 20(11): e1012294
Hakimi H*, Asada M, Ishizaki T, Kawazu S-i (2021). Isolation of viable Babesia bovis merozoites to study parasite invasion. Sci Rep 11, 16959.
Hakimi H*, Templeton TJ, Sakaguchi M, Yamagishi J, Miyazaki S, et al (2020). Novel Babesia bovis exported proteins that modify properties of infected red blood cells. PLoS Pathog 16(10): 1008917.
Hakimi H*, Ishizaki T, Kegawa Y, Kaneko O, Kawazu SI, Asada M (2019). Genome editing of Babesia bovis using CRISPR/Cas9 system. mSphere 4(3), e00109-19.
Yamagishi J, Asada M, Hakimi H, Tanaka TQ, Sugimoto C, Kawazu S-i (2017). Whole-genome assembly of Babesia ovata and comparative genomics between closely related pathogens. BMC Genomics 27; 18(1):832
Hakimi H, Yamagishi J, Kegawa Y, Kaneko O, Kawazu S, Asada M (2016). Establishment of transient and stable transfection systems for Babesia ovata. Parasites & Vectors 9:171
Review papers
Hakimi H*, Verocai GG (2023). Babesia bovis. Trends Parasitol 39:8.
Hakimi H*, Yamagishi J, Kawazu S-i, Asada M (2022). Advances in understanding red blood cell modifications by Babesia. PLoS Pathog 18(9): e1010770.
Hakimi H*, Asada M, Kawazu S-i (2021). Recent advances in molecular genetic tools for Babesia. Veterinary Sciences 8(10):222.
*Corresponding author