Devki Nandan, PhD
Assistant Professor
Division of Infectious Diseases
phone: 604-875-4347
fax: 604-875-4013
dnandan(at)interchange.ubc.ca
Mononuclear Phagocyte Deactivation in Host-Pathogen Interactions
My research examines infection of macrophages with Leishmania donovani, an agent of human visceral leishmaniasis. Recently, research done in collaboration with Dr. Reiner has identified leishmania elongation factor EF-1α (an essential component of protein translation) and aldolase as specific activators of macrophage SHP-1, a protein tyrosine phosphatase involved in leishmaniasis. Sizable insertions/deletions (indels) between pathogen EF-1α an its the human homologue(s) found through molecular modeling now provide a strategy for selective targeting. Work is in progress to characterize in silico based small molecules as selective inhibitors of leishmania EF-1α.
Education
PhD - Biochemistry - University of Western Ontario