Therapeutic Sciences Graduate Program

Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum remains a major global health threat with children bearing the heaviest burden of disease and mortality. Prior work from our lab demonstrated that antibodies targeting the parasite antigen PfGARP significantly reduce parasite density and severe disease. While antibody specificity and quantity are known critical drivers of efficacy, the impact of Fc-region post-translational modifications remains less understood. My goal is to evaluate how antibody afucosylation influences anti-PfGARP-mediated parasite clearance to inform future vaccine design.