Dr. Victoria Jeffers, Assistant Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire
Host: Aoife Heaslip
Placing a BET on bromodomains in Toxoplasma gondii
Summary: Epigenetic regulation of gene expression through acetylation of histones in Apicomplexan parasites is essential for parasite infection and transmission. The role of bromodomains, the acetylated histone “reader” proteins in this criticalprocess is unknown. Using transcriptomic, proteomic and epigenetic profiling approaches in Toxoplasma gondii, weseek to understand the function of bromodomains in the pathogenesis of these medically important organisms andevaluate their potential as novel antiparasitic drug targets.
About Dr. Jeffers: Dr. Vicki Jeffers is an Assistant Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis in the Department of Molecular, Cellular andBiomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire. She earned a B.A. degree in Microbiology from Trinity CollegeDublin, Ireland in 2005 and a PhD in Molecular Parasitology from Heidelberg University, Germany in 2010. Followingher postdoctoral training at Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, she joined UNH in 2018 where hergroup conducts research in mechanisms of epigenetic and transcriptional regulation in the parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
Related publications:
https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.03573-22
https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1010056