My research focuses on regulatory mechanisms that are associated with the progression of the complex life cycle of human malaria parasites, Plasmodium species. The research activities can be divided into three major objectives

(i) Characterizations of transcriptional regulation in Plasmodium. In these studies we conduct genome-wide transcriptional profiling of field isolates and chemical genomics analyses of the laboratory strains. The main goal of these studies is to identify transcriptional regulation that controls parasites virulence as well as responses to drug therapies.

(ii) Quantitative proteomics of the Plasmodium intraerythrocytic developmental cycle. The main objective these studies is to characterize protein abundance profiles as well as the pattern of posttranslational modification associated with the progression of the Plasmodium erythrocytic development. These studies are conducted in the proteome-wide manner using the two dimensional gel electrophoresis approaches. The main objective is to identify regulatory elements of Plasmodium translational machinery as new therapeutic targets for human malaria.

(iii) Epigenetic regulation of transcriptional control in Plasmodium parasites. Using a chemical genetic approach we characterize a role of Histone Deacetylases (HDAC) in the transcriptional regulation of the Plasmodium life cycle. Using these approaches we attempt to analyze the histone code in Plasmodium and its role in parasite growth and development. Simultaneously we evaluate a potential of HDAC inhibitors as new malaria chemotherapeutics.