Malaria is a major public health problem in many developing countries, with Plasmodium falciparum causing the most malaria associated mortality. Moreover, the emergence of drug-resistant parasites thwarts efforts to control malaria. One of the major challenges is identification of new drug targets for efficacious, affordable treatment. Our lab focuses on epigenetic and transcriptional regulation as potential avenues to disrupt the progression of this deadly parasite. To accomplish this, our research combines tools from functional genomics, molecular biology, biochemistry and computational biology to understand the fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying the development of this parasite. The focus is predominantly on the red blood cell stage of development, which is the stage in which all of the clinical manifestations of the malaria disease occur.

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