My research interests are centered on how the human pathogen Leishmania donovani interacts with its host environment to acquire essential nutrients for its growth and viability. Leishmania are single cell eukaryotes that have a limited capacity to synthesize and store metabolites. Acquiring essential nutrients from the host environment is integral to Leishmania pathogenesis and parasitism and understanding nutrient acquisition pathways, as well as the mechanisms used by the parasite to counter times when nutrients are scarce, are fundamental to advancing our understanding of parasite biology, and will likely provide targets for future therapeutic exploration.
