Ms Meghan Zadow

Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for the largest proportion of human malaria infections and severe disease annually. These parasites have complex life cycles that require strict regulation of gene and protein expression for their continued transmission and survival however, the molecular mechanisms they employ to achieve this remain poorly understood. Utilising gene-editing and proteomics-based approaches, Meghan’s research aims to identify and characterise interacting protein partners of a group of DNA/RNA binding proteins thought to be essential during the disease-causing blood stage of this parasite’s lifecycle. Understanding the protein interaction networks of key parasite regulatory proteins will provide us with a greater understanding of this parasites sophisticated regulatory mechanisms, potentially leading to the identification of much-needed novel drug-targets.