Educational Background

B.S. University of Bombay, India
M.S. University of Bombay, India
Ph.D. University of Bombay, India

Professional Experience

Dr. Dhople did his postdoctoral research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD, before joining the faculty in the Pathobiology Department of the same School. In 1980, he joined the Medical Research Institute of Florida Institute of Technology as Director of its Infectious Diseases Division. Subsequently, in 1988 this Institute was merged into the Department of Biological Sciences, where he was the Director of Infectious Diseases Laboratory. Dr. Dhople retired in May 2005, and since then he is Professor Emeritus in that Department. At the Medical Research Institute he was responsible for the leprosy research, both in vitro and with animals such as armadillos and mice. After merging with Biological Sciences department, he continued his research in leprosy and also initiated studies in tuberculosis as well as in microbial spoilage and preservation of food. He also developed several new courses in mycobacteriology and microbiology, which he offered to both undergraduate and graduate students till his retirement. He had research collaboration with various scientists in the U.S., as well as in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, and Germany. He was on scientific advisory committees of U.S. - Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program, the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization, Indian Council of Medical Research, and German Leprosy Relief Association.

Member – International Leprosy Association, Indian Leprosy Association, American Society for Microbiology, New York Academy of Sciences, Chinese Leprosy Association (Hon.), and International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Fellow – American Academy of Microbiology; Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Hon. Fellow).

Visiting Professor – Borstal Research Institute, Borstal, Germany; National Institute of Dermatology, Nanjing, China; National Academy of Tropical Diseases, Novosibirsk, Russia; Kurume University Medical School, Kurume, Japan; Foundation for Medical Research, Bombay, India; Tropical Diseases Laboratory, Antwerp, Belgium; and, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France.

Selected Publications

Dhople, A. M. (2004). Activity of sitafloxacin (DU-6859a) against actively growing Mycobacterium. leprae in armadillos. Arzneim. Forsch/Drug Research, 54: 432-441.

Dhople, A. M. and Namba, K. (2003). In vivo susceptibility of Mycobacterium leprae to sitafloxacin (DU-6859a), either singly or in combination with rifampin analogs. Internatl. J. Antimicrob. Agents, 21: 251-255.

Dhople, A. M. and Namba, K. (2003). In vitro activity of sitafloxacin (DU-6859a), either singly or in combination with rifampin analogs, against Mycobacterium leprae. J. Infection and Chemotherapy, 9: 12-15.

Dhople, A. M. and Namba, K. (2002). In vitro activity of sitafloxacin (DU-6859a), either singly or in combination with rifampin, against Mycobacterium ulcerans. J. Antimicrob. Chemotherapy, 50: 727-729.

Dhople, A. M. (2002). In vivo activity of epiroprim, a dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor, either singly or in combination with dapsone, against Mycobacterium leprae. Internatl. J. Antimicrob. Agents. 19: 71-74.

Koodie, L. and Dhople, A. M. (2001). Acid tolerance of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and its survival in apple juice. Microbios, 104: 167-175.

Dhople, A. M. (2001). Antimicrobial activities of dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors, used singly or in combination with dapsone, against Mycobacterium ulcerans. J. Antimicrob. Chemotherapy, 47: 93-96.

Dhople, A. M. and Ryon, D. L. S. (2000). ATP content of Mycobacterium tuberculosis grown in vivo and in vitro. Microbios, 101: 81-88.

Dhople, A. M., Ibanez, M. A. and Poirier, T. C. (1996). Role of iron in the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium avium infection in mice, Microbios, 87: 77-87.

Dhople, A. M. and Ibanez, M. A. (1995). In vitro activities of benzoxazinorifamycins against Mycobacterium leprae. J. Antimicrob. Chemotherapy, 35: 463-471.

Dhople, A. M., Ibanez, M. A. and Gardner, G. D. (1993). In vitro synergistic activity between ofloxacin and ansamycins against Mycobacterium leprae. Arzneim.-Forsch/Drug Research, 43: 384-386.

Dhople, A. M. and Lamoureux, L. C. (1991). Factors influencing the in vitro growth of Mycobacterium leprae: effect of oxygen. Microbial. Immunol., 35: 201-208.

Dhople, A. M. and Ortega, I. (1990). In vitro culture method for screening newer drugs against Mycobacterium leprae. Indian J. Leprosy, 62: 66-75.

Dhople, A. M., Green, K. J. and Osborn, L. J. (1988). Limited in vitro multiplication of Mycobacterium leprae. Ann. Institut. Pasteur, 139: 213-223.

Dhople, A. M. (1894). ATP content of Mycobacterium leprae from leprosy patients under chemotherapy. Internatl. J. Leprosy, 52: 183-188.

Dhople, A. M. and Hanks, J. H. (1981). ATP content of Mycobacterium leprae. Internatl. J. Leprosy, 49: 57-59.

Research

Research & Project Interests

For forty years, Dr. Dhople’s research was focused on the nutrition and growth of Mycobacterium leprae, the causative organism of leprosy. The inability of scientists to grow this organism in test tube for more than one hundred years was a major drawback in eradicating this disease. Dr. Dhople undertook this task by adopting rather unusual paths. To measure the growth of this organism, he had to first develop ultra sensitive method to measure intracellular levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which he had adopted as an indicator of viability of the organism. This indicator is now widely used in food industry, sewage and water purification plants, and in pharmaceutical industry, along with in monitoring the prognosis of leprosy and tuberculosis patients under chemotherapy. With the success achieved in this area, Dr. Dhople shifted his attention to develop new drugs to treat leprosy. For this, he had collaborated with various pharmaceutical companies to evaluate new compounds against Mycobacterium leprae growing in test tubes, and then growing in the footpads of mice. This was followed by evaluating these drugs against leprosy infection in nine-banded armadillos and finally in human leprosy patients. He also carried out similar studies in tuberculosis, in test tubes, then in mice and finally in human patients. In the area of food microbiology, he studied various factors responsible for the spoilage of food, especially meat, poultry and fish, and the ways to prevent such spoilage. He has published more than 130 papers on his research in peer-reviewed professional journals.