Therapeutic Sciences Graduate Program

We study how mRNA translational quality control, RNA regulation and prion like assembly shape the biology of Plasmodium falciparum, the apicomplexan parasite responsible for the most severe form of human malaria. Our lab combines molecular parasitology, biochemistry, chemical biology and computational approaches to decipher parasite-specific mechanisms that control RNA metabolism, stress adaptation, and ribosome function. Because the P. falciparum is genome is exceptionally AT-rich, the sequences of transcripts and proteins have unusual sequence features like long poly-adenosine stretches within the coding regions or long poly asparagine/lysine in proteins, which challenge conventional models of transcription and gene regulation. We are especially interested in how parasite ribosome responds to stalling, stress and defective RNAs and how these specialized pathways can uncover new avenues for drug development.