Pathogen-Host-Environment Interactions Research Laboratory

The Pathogen-Host-Environment Interactions Research Laboratory (PHEIRL), formerly Molecular Protozoology Laboratory (MPL), is the first and only laboratory in the Philippines devoted to the characterization of molecular mechanisms of pathogenicity of protozoan parasites. It was established in 2001, headed by Windell L. Rivera, Ph.D. MPL’s primary aim was to describe pathogenic protozoans isolated from various habitats based on their molecular characteristics and to devise ways to rapidly detect them and find possible ways to eradicate them. Extensive research studies have been done on several genera like Acanthamoeba, Blastocystis, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba, Giardia, and Trichomonas.

Through the years, PHEIRL’s organism portfolio has broadened, now including several pathogenic bacterial genera such as Escherichia, Salmonella, and Leptospira.