Laura Erdman

Laura Erdman is a PhD Candidate at Sandra A. Rotman Laboratories, McLaughlin Rotman Centre for Global Health within the Translational Research Pillar.  

Laura's research focuses on how host cells called macrophages respond to the malaria parasite.  Macrophages are the "Pac-Man" of the immune system: they are specialized to engulf and destroy foreign invaders. They also release chemical "alarm signals" to warn other cells of the presence of pathogens. Laura investigates how different macrophage proteins interact with the parasite, and whether the consequences of these interactions are beneficial or detrimental to the host, with the eventual aim of identifying novel drug targets.