Two postdoctoral fellowships available immediately on NIH R01 AI170506 with annual re-appointment possible through March 2027
Malaria parasites must acquire essential nutrients, including pantothenate or vitamin B5, from their mosquito and human hosts to successfully complete their development. In published and ongoing studies, we have confirmed that manipulation of mosquito pantothenate stores can starve malaria parasites of this essential nutrient and be used as the basis of novel transmission blocking strategies. The two postdoctoral fellows on this project will complete studies in the Luckhart lab, in coordination with Dr. Mike Riehle and his team at the University of Arizona, to accomplish the aims of the project. A unique collaboration leverages expertise of colleagues at St. Jude Children’s Hospital to repurpose small molecule drug candidates that target mammalian pantothenate kinase, the rate-limiting enzyme in conversion of pantothenate to coenzyme A, for our studies in the highly invasive malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi. The aims of the project include biochemical and genetic strategies to manipulate mosquito pantothenate levels to