Over half of the people on the planet are at risk from infection with the parasites that cause Malaria. In 2016, there were 216 million cases of the disease globally, resulting in 445 000 deaths. The best treatment for Malaria is currently via the combination of the drugs Artemisin and Piperaquine, but emerging resistance to both of these front-line antimalarial drugs means there is an urgent need for new treatment options and a better understanding of resistance mechanisms. This project combines X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy and high-thouput drug discovery, aiding the development of a new class of therapeutics against the parasite.

Relevant publications:

• Qureshi, A. A., Suades, A., Matsuoka, R., Brock, J., McComas, S. E., Nji, E., Orellana, L., Claesson, M., Delemotte, L., & Drew, D. (2020). The molecular basis for sugar import in malaria parasites. Nature, 578(7794), 321–325. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-1963-z