Dr. Erwin Schurr

Leprosy is one of the world's oldest and most feared diseases. Although rare in North America, leprosy affects approximately one million people in 91 countries each year. "Leprosy is a terribly debilitating disease, which has resisted eradication for centuries," said Dr. Erwin Schurr, whose research focuses on the host genetics of the disease. "By taking the genetic constitution of people who suffer from the disease into account, our results give an entirely novel view of the leprosy disease process," he noted. "Understanding the reasons why people contract diseases is the key to developing strategies to defeat them."

Last year, Dr. Schurr's research brought the eradication of leprosy one step closer. As part of an international team, Dr. Schurr discovered that small changes in the Parkin 2 gene, and its neighbour PACRG, result in an increased susceptibility to leprosy. Dr. Schurr and his colleagues analyzed DNA samples from nearly 200 Vietnamese families with leprosy and confirmed their findings in Brazilian leprosy patients. The research, which was published in the February 2004 issue of the journal Nature, may help explain why, despite effective drug treatment, leprosy persists in many parts of the world. Dr. Schurr also studies the host genetics of tuberculosis, and collaborates closely with several research groups in the developing world for the genetic epidemiological analysis of these diseases.

Dr. Schurr is a James McGill Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics at McGill University, based at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) in Montreal. He completed his PhD at the Institute of Biophysics and Radiation Biology of Albert Ludwigs Universität in Freiburg, Germany, and in 1987 moved to McGill to carry out postdoctoral studies under the supervision of Dr. Philippe Gros and Dr. Emil Skamene—director of the Research Institute of the MUHC.

Dr. Schurr is the principal investigator of the CIHR Strategic Training Centre for Integrative Biology of Infectious Diseases and Autoimmunity at the McGill Centre for the Study of Host Resistance and a member of the Scientific Advisory and Review Committee for the German Genome Research Networks. In 2003 he received the Merck Frosst Award for Excellence in Research, and last year was listed in Québec Science magazine's Top Ten Discoveries of 2004 for the identification of the leprosy susceptibility gene.

For further information, please contact Dr. Erwin Schurr using the Email contact form or by phone at 514 934-1934 ext 44513