Bojali Thomas - Featured Faculty 2023
Bojali Thomas
College of Health Sciences and Technology
Bolaji Thomas completed his graduate training at the University of Lagos, Nigeria before accepting a postdoctoral position in the United States. At the conclusion of a successful postdoctoral training program at the University of Pennsylvania, he joined RIT in the fall of 2008 as Assistant Professor, Department of Biology. He was later seconded to the College of Health Sciences and Technology as foundation faculty in the new college.
Dr Thomas’ primary area of research is immunology and infectious diseases. He directs the Systems Immunology and Computational Biology Research lab at RIT, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in the Biomedical Sciences, Biology, Biotechnology, Physician Assistant, Bioinformatics and Medical Illustration Programs. Projects in his group are focused on systems immunology and molecular evolution of malaria, schistosomiasis and coronavirus, including utilizing non-coding RNA target transcripts as therapeutic and diagnostic biomarkers for coronavirus and malaria; genomic deconvolution of disease adaptation footprints in bovine trypanosomiasis; dissection of epigenetically-reprogrammed persistent parasites in leishmaniasis; metagenomics of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Nigeria (field studies and systems elucidation of treatment failures); genetic architecture and population structure of sickle cell disease. The group utilizes both wet lab and computational biology tools to elucidate disease challenges related to susceptibility, tolerance, immunity and severity in each of these systems and populations.
His primary and collaborative research projects are funded by an array of internal and external awards, including the United States Department of Agriculture, American Association for Immunologists, Bayer Foundation, Federation of African Immunological Societies, National Institute of Health etc. He is the principal investigator on 5 pending research grants submitted to the USDA, NIH and NSF. These grants are focused on collaborative One Health approaches to elucidate systems biology and transmission dynamics of neglected infectious diseases, student training and global health.
Bojali Thomas
Professor
Biomedical Sciences Program
College of Health Sciences and Technology