Anthony Ruberto PhD
Dr. Anthony Ruberto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Florida State University College of Medicine. His laboratory studies parasites and free-living amoebae that cause significant human disease, with a primary focus on malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites and Naegleria fowleri, the causative agent of primary amebic meningoencephalitis. By combining fundamental pathogen biology with translational drug-discovery research, the Ruberto Laboratory seeks to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities and determine how these organisms survive treatment, persist within the host, and develop drug resistance.
Dr. Ruberto earned his Ph.D. from the Institute of Biology Valrose at Université Côte d’Azur in Nice, France, where he investigated the relationship between circadian rhythms and metabolic dysfunction in the liver. He then completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Insect Vectors and Parasites at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, studying malaria parasite biology within the mosquito. Building on his expertise in liver biology, he later conducted research as a visiting scholar at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge in Cambodia, where he applied cellular and molecular approaches to investigate malaria parasites in the human host, including dormant liver-stage forms that can persist and later become active, causing relapsing malaria.
Dr. Ruberto later joined the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases at the University of Georgia, where he trained in antiparasitic drug discovery and the study of drug-resistance mechanisms. His research there encompassed several medically important eukaryotic pathogens, including Plasmodium species, N. fowleri, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Toxoplasma gondii. In 2024, he received a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award to advance his research program in infectious-disease drug discovery and resistance.
Current work in the Ruberto Laboratory integrates cellular and molecular biology, functional genomics, high-content imaging, and drug-discovery approaches to study pathogen development and treatment response. Key areas of interest include malaria parasite development in the liver and blood, dormant liver-stage forms associated with relapsing malaria, resistance to antimalarial compounds, and therapeutic vulnerabilities in N. fowleri and other medically important parasites. Through this work, his research team aims to uncover new drug targets and support the development of more effective treatments for parasite-related diseases.