Haskins Labs Discovers Lifesaving Treatment

At Pace, persistence pays off, and in this case, years of scientific research has led to a remarkable, lifesaving breakthrough for humanity.

Faculty in the award-winning Haskins Labs, renowned for producing innovative research on parasitic diseases that improves human health across the world, have contributed to a major development in the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), a potentially fatal parasitic disease commonly known as sleeping sickness. Acoziborole (marketed as Acoziborole Winthrop) can now cure the disease with a single oral dose, representing a significant step forward in the management of tropical diseases.

The advance is especially significant for a disease that historically required far more complex—and sometimes highly toxic—treatment. Now, a simple, single-dose therapy could make treatment dramatically easier to deliver in remote communities and help accelerate global efforts to eliminate sleeping sickness altogether.

This achievement grew out of a collaboration involving Pace, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), who funded the research, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Scynexis, and other partners. Director of the Haskins Lab and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Nigel Yarlett, PhD, and Professor Emeritus Cyrus Bacchi, PhD, former director, helped evaluate potential compounds using both bloodstream and central nervous system models, work that ultimately contributed to identifying and advancing acoziborole toward clinical development.

A competitive, curative edge

Linked to the Biology and Chemistry and Physical Sciences departments in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences on the New York City Campus, with joint research projects involving students, faculty and staff, Haskins is unique in that very few labs have the capability to do late-stage disease models, a key component in life-extension for those afflicted with HAT.

Yarlett said, “Acoziborole is a huge contribution to the treatment of HAT since it is administered as 1-3 pills, single dose, can last in the patient for up to 28 days, and penetrates the blood-brain barrier, curing both early-stage (blood stream infection) and late-stage disease (central nervous system infection); the latter is fatal if not addressed.”

The work continues

There are two main forms of HAT, depending upon the region of Africa where the disease is prominent, and acoziborole is currently being used to treat patients with West African Trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma gambiense. Acoziborole has not yet been used, however, in the case of East African Trypanosomiasis caused by T. rhodesiense, and that’s where the Haskins Labs come in, with the next stage of research set to determine if the treatment can extend to all forms of the disease.

“I feel confident it will, but parasites can often surprise you,” said Yarlett.

Yarlett and his research team are also working on developing a curative treatment for cryptosporidiosis, a debilitating diarrheal disease implicated in an estimated 200,000 child deaths annually, and primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. There is currently no approved drug, and treatment consists of intensive intravenous hydration, a practical impossibility in the countries most impacted.

Haskins has received funding from both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate the parasite with the goal of producing an oral, low dose, non-toxic small molecules to treat children impacted with this parasite.

Student success at Haskins

At Haskins, both undergraduate and graduate students carry out research under the guidance of faculty and regularly publish their findings in high impact journals, present at conferences, and pursue successful careers, with two students who participated in Haskins during the 1970s with then-director Seymour Hutner recognized with Nobel Peace prizes.

Although students were not directly involved in the more recent research on acoziborole, they were involved in other key aspects leading to its discovery.

Donna Sarno, laboratory supervisor, has contributed to various parasitic research at Haskins during the course of 34 years at Pace, and a big part of that has been alongside students.

“The labs give students a unique research experience. Working with parasites and neglected diseases especially opens them up to a world they may not know about,” she said.

Pace honored among industry professionals

In November 2026, scientists (including Yarlett and Bacchi) and industry leaders who were key players in facilitating efforts to finally eliminate sleeping sickness will be celebrated at an event cohosted by the North Carolina Global Health Alliance and DNDi.

A key feature will be a documentary partly filmed at Haskins in September 2026, followed by a roundtable discussion with Q+A by representatives in attendance.

For Yarlett, it is very much a full-circle moment.

Since joining the Haskins laboratory in 1986, acoziborole is the second drug that Yarlett has seen go into clinical trial for the treatment of Human African Trypanosomiasis, and it could not have happened without the collaboration of so many in the Pace Community.

He said, “A large part of this success stems from the great insight and knowledge that Cy Bacchi has for this disease and ability to find the Achilles Heel of a deadly parasite. We are also grateful to the support and encouragement provided by Pace University and President Krislov in these endeavors, it is a great environment to do this research, and we look forward to the continued success of the Haskins Laboratories at Pace University.”

Making a difference, into the future

The scientific breakthrough in the form of acoziborole’s discovery is a powerful example of what happens when Pace gives great minds the support to pursue big questions.

It is also a testament to how a gem of a space and decades of persistence can have a far-reaching impact, ultimately changing lives around the world.