Peter Preiser

Biography

"Prof Peter Preiser is the Chair of the School of Biological Sciences and a Professor of Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Biology from University of Delaware, USA, in 1981 . After his postdoctoral appointment at Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, USA, Prof Preiser joined London’s National Institute for Medical Research as a Senior Research Scientist. In 2003 he left London to join NTU’s School of Biological Sciences (SBS) as an Associate Professor and was later promoted to full Professor in 2009. His research interest focus on the molecular mechanisms by which the malaria parasite is able to avoid host immunity and adapt to changes in the host cell environment. He has extensive experience in malaria biology and developing quantitative proteomic approaches along with transcriptional profiling to understand complex biological processes in relation to host parasite interaction."

Research Interest

"My research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms by which the malaria parasite is able to avoid host immunity and adapt to changes in the host cell environment. One of the main problems in developing an efficient malaria vaccine is the ability of the parasite to evade host immune responses. Immune evasion happens both at the level of the infected red blood cell and at the process of invasion, the step at which the parasite infects a new cell. A key focus area of the lab is to understand the mechanisms on how the malaria merozoite recognizes and penetrates the erythrocyte. To address these questions we have particular focused on the role of the Reticulocyte Binding Protein Homologues (RH) family of proteins which is found in all malaria species and has been implicated on playing a role in immune evasion and parasite virulence. Using both the human parasite Plasmodium falciparum as well as the rodent parasite P. yoelii we have been able to address question relating to mechanisms regulating parasite virulence as well as getting a cleared understanding on how these large proteins mediate their function. An interesting upshot of this work is the possibility of using them as part of a malaria vaccine formulation. "