Identification and characterization of novel drug resistance loci in Plasmodium falciparum

Malaria has plagued mankind for millennia. Antimalarial drug use over the last century has generated highly drug-resistant parasites, which amplify the burden of this disease and pose a serious obstacle to control efforts. This dissertation is motivated by the simple fact that malaria parasites have become resistant to nearly every antimalarial drug that has ever been used, yet the precise genetic mechanisms of parasite drug resistance remain largely unknown. Our work pairs genomics-age technologies with molecular biology, genetics and molecular epidemiology in order to identify and characterize novel genes that contribute to drug resistance in P. falciparum.