Columbia University Medical Center

David Fidock

 
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About

During my past 30 years of malaria research, I have investigated how P. falciparum invades and develops within hepatocytes and red blood cells, what immune effector mechanisms operate on these stages, how antimalarials act and how parasites counter their action, and how parasites are successfully transmitted to Anopheles mosquitoes, their definitive host.

My laboratory’s ongoing and planned research channels these interests into several themes:

  1. What are the parasite factors that mediate resistance to antimalarial drugs and how they evolve regionally in ways that balance the acquisition of resistance with parasite fitness and transmissibility?

  2. What biological processes are targeted by antimalarial drugs, and what accounts for parasite death?

  3. What biochemical and physiological functions are intrinsic to the subcellular compartments targeted by antimalarials, including the digestive vacuole that is the site of action of 4-aminoquinoline drugs.

  4. How does P. falciparum regulate its lipid metabolism throughout the life cycle and how can we leverage these pathways to make genetically attenuated whole-cell vaccines?

 These studies benefit from our extensive experience in P. falciparum genetics, genomics and cell biology. We constantly strive for new innovations in our experimental approaches, and work extensively with collaborators across the globe, to enhance the impact of these investigations. The ultimate goal is to reduce the burden of malaria across the tropical regions of the world. 

Advanced Global Australian Life Sciences Award Winner Acceptance Speech

Professor David Fidock's major achievements in the life sciences have been the discovery of how the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum acquired resistance to the first-line antimalarial drugs chloroquine and artemisinin.

 

Biographical Sketch


Education and Training

  • 1983-85 Adelaide University, South AustraliaB.Sc. (Maths): Genetics/Computer Sci.

  • 1986 Adelaide University, South AustraliaB.Sc. (Honors): Genetics (Honors)

  • 1989-94 University Paris VII, Paris, FrancePh.D.: Microbiology (Malaria)

  • 1995-96 U. California, IrvinePostdoctoral training: Malaria research

  • 1996-99 Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID, NIH Postdoctoral training: Malaria research

Positions and Employment

  • 1987–89 Research assistant, Biotechnology Australia, Sydney

  • 1989–94 Graduate student, Pasteur Institute, Paris

  • 1994–99 Tenured research scientist, Pasteur Institute, Paris

  • 1995–96 Post–doctoral fellow, laboratory of Dr. Anthony James, U. California, Irvine CA

  • 1996–99 Post–doctoral fellow, laboratory of Dr. Thomas Wellems, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD

  • 2000–04 Assistant Professor, Dept. Microbiol. & Immunol., Albert Einstein Coll. Med., Bronx, NY

  • 2004–04/07 Associate Professor, Dept. Microbiol. & Immunol., Albert Einstein Coll. Med., Bronx, NY

  • 05/07–06/12 Associate Professor, Depts. of Microbiology & Immunology and of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases), Columbia University, New York, NY

  • 05/08–Present Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York, NY

  • 06/12–Present Professor, Depts. of Microbiology & Immunology and of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases), Columbia University, New York, NY

 

Other Experience and Professional Memberships

  • 1998–Present Member, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

  • 2002–03 Ad–hoc member, Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Study Section, NIAID, NIH

  • 2002–06 Reviewer for the Wellcome Trust, The Medical Research Council (UK), the Pasteur Institute in Paris and the French Ministry of Science and Technology

  • 2003–06 Ad–hoc reviewer for Special Emphasis Panels, Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, and Pathogenic Eukaryotes Study Sections, NIAID, NIH

  • 2004–07 Session Chair, Molecular Parasitology Meeting (2005, 2006), American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

  • 2004-2007 American Society for Microbiology

  • 2005–Present Ad–hoc member, Drug Discovery and Resistance Study Section, NIAID, NIH

  • 2007–Present Member, Specialist Editorial Boards, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and International Journal of Parasitology

 

Honors and Awards

  • 1994 Ph.D. Graduate, Summa cum Laude, University Paris VII/Pasteur Institute, Paris

  • 2001 New Initiatives in Malaria Research, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

  • 2001 Speaker’s Fund in Biomedical Research, New York Academy of Medicine

  • 2001 New Scholar in Global Infectious Disease, Ellison Medical Foundation

  • 2004 Investigator in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

  • 2014 Recipient of the Bailey K. Ashford Medal for distinguished research in tropical medicine from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

  • 2015 Elected to the Council of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

  • 2016 Elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)

  • 2016 Advance Global Australian of the Year in Life Sciences

  • 2017 Endowed Professorship awarded by Columbia University

  • 2020 Winner of the ASTMH Trager Award in Molecular Parasitology

  • 2020 Winner of the 2020 Project of the Year from the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV)

  • 2023 Elected as President of the ASTMH

  • 2023 Elected as member of the American Academy of Microbiology

  • 2024 Winner of the Alice and CC Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology, American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

 

Publications