https://imicro.ucsf.edu/seminar-series

During my past 20 years of malaria research, I have investigated how P. falciparum invades and develops within hepatocytes and RBC, what immune effector mechanisms operate on these stages, how antimalarials act and how parasites counter their action, and how parasites are successfully transmitted to Anopheles mosquitoes, their definitive host. My laboratory's ongoing and planned research channels these interests into several themes:

1) What are the parasite factors that mediate resistance to antimalarial drugs;
2) What biological processes are targeted by antimalarial drugs and what accounts for parasite death;
3) What biochemical and physiological functions are intrinsic to the digestive vacuole (DV) and the apicoplast, the site of action of CQ and of antibiotics respectively; and 
4) How does P. falciparum regulate its virulence and prevent the establishment of protective immunity.

These studies benefit from our extensive experience in P. falciparum transfection and we constantly strive for new innovations in genetics to enhance the power of these investigations.

David A. Fidock, Ph.D. Colombia University

C.S. Hamish Young Professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Medical Sciences (in Medicine)
Ph.D., Pasteur Institute Paris