Today at Brown

Richard Bungiro enjoys worms.

“There's a 10-year-old boy in me who really likes worms, who found a way to work with them for the last 16 years,” he said.

Bungiro isn’t digging up earthworms or playing with planaria, though. He spends his time with the parasitic hookworm, which plagues the developing world.

“I find them fascinating for what they can do — how they can infect, invade and manipulate,” Bungiro said. “Basically, they thrive on poverty; they’re exacerbated by poor sanitation, poor nutrition.”

The hookworm is a bloodsucking nematode that can enter the body of humans and animals through ingestion or through the skin of the legs or feet. It lives as a parasite in the intestine, causing abdominal pain, nausea, and, when left untreated, severe anemia.

“They’re a major cause of maternal and child pathology, which can lead to poor school productivity, poor adult productivity,” Bungiro said.

The Rhode Island native received his Ph.D. in pathobiology at Brown, mentored by Paul Knopf, emeritus professor of molecular microbiology and immunology.

The course “Principles of Immunology” has become Bungiro’s bread and butter. He will teach it as a lecturer this fall for 100 to 120 students, as he did last fall as an adjunct faculty member. He also taught an accelerated version of the course at Brown this summer, as well as when he was a newly minted Ph.D.

“But now, I have my first windows in 16 years,” he said, gesturing around his office and the view outside.

Bungiro, who is married with two young children, said that parenthood has deepened his commitment to his research.

“It’s very easy to say hookworms are a disease that has a huge impact on children,” he said. “But as a parent, when you have other people’s children at stake ... It motivates me to make that difference I’ve always wanted to make.”