A Collaborative Lab Community
Graduate students, summer researchers, and undergraduate scholars working together to advance parasitology and vaccine science at USM.
Meet the Team →The Marques Lab develops VLP-based vaccines using α-Gal epitopes and peptide antigens to combat Leishmania, Trypanosoma cruzi, and tick-borne diseases — bringing precision immunology to the world’s most overlooked infections.
"We develop life-saving vaccines against neglected tropical diseases — reaching the communities conventional medicine has long overlooked."
DR. ALEXANDRE F. MARQUES · PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
What We Study
The Marques Lab harnesses the power of virus-like particles (VLPs) and α-Gal carbohydrate epitopes to engineer immunity against parasitic diseases that affect millions of people worldwide — yet remain chronically underfunded. Our work spans vaccine development, immunotherapy, diagnostics, and computational antigen design.
"α-Gal epitopes displayed on icosahedral VLPs elicit potent Th1 immunity and protect against Leishmania and T. cruzi infections in validated murine models."
Principal Investigator
Latest News
The Marques Lab published a comprehensive open-access narrative review synthesizing Leishmania pathogenesis, the Th1/Th2 immune landscape, and evolving immunotherapy strategies including α-Gal VLP platforms.
Read Paper → doi:10.3389/fmicb.2026.1861933Oduwe Ugochukwu and Giorgi Kenkebashvili represented the lab at the AAI Annual Meeting in Boston, presenting a poster on VLP-based peptide vaccines targeting T. cruzi trans-sialidase for Chagas disease.
See All Lab Achievements →Get In Touch
We welcome inquiries from prospective students, collaborators, and the scientific community. Reach out to learn more about our research or opportunities to join the lab.