Benedict Davies

Biography

I completed my undergraduate studies in Biology at Aberystwyth University. Following this, I studied for an MSc in Medical Parasitology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where I developed an interest in malaria. For my MSc summer project, I studied the origins of cerebral vasoconstriction in cerebral malaria patients from Meghalaya, India.  In 2018, I joined the group as a PhD student. My project aims to characterise several Plasmodium falciparum transition metal ion transporters. Transition metals such as iron, copper and zinc are essential to many enzymatic processes, yet become toxic at high concentrations. Transition metal homeostasis, which is regulated by membrane transporters, is therefore essential to the survival of the parasite. This makes these transporters attractive drug targets for malaria.