As a neurovirologist, Joseph identified that HERV-W protein is overexpressed in astrocytes in the brain of MS patients. This overactivation triggered the production of free radicals that were toxic to oligodendrocytes (Nature Neuroscience, 2004). In his postdoctoral work, Joseph identified that microglia are an important constituent of the neural stem cell niche and without microglia, there is a block in astrogenesis (J Neurosci. Res., 2011).
Background
Joseph Mathew Antony's ancestors hail from Kerala, India. While his mother hails from Nayathod (erstwhile Travancore), his father (family name Thevalakadu) hails from Alapuzha. Joseph traces his Christian roots to the Syro-Malabar eastern church whose ancestors were converted by St Thomas the Apostle when he landed in Kerala.
People of this Syro Malabar community bear the names of the apostles and saints of the Catholic Church and should not be confused with those who trace their christian roots to the missionaries who arrived in Goa and other parts of India.
Joseph lives with his family in Ottawa, Canada.
Education
Joseph completed his schooling at St John's High School, Bangalore and went on to finish his pre-university requirements at St Joseph's College, Bangalore. For his undergrad studies, he chose to go to University of Agricultural Sciences (College of Fisheries, Mangalore) and completed both his BFSc. and MFSc. He completed a second MS degree in Biological Sciences (Microbiology) at the National University of Singapore) and went to University of Calgary (Canada) for his PhD.
