Malaria is one of the many severe parasitic diseases to mankind, but wildlife malaria, Plasmodium, is understudied in biology. Sarah Pangburn changed that by studying plasmodium-infected lizards in the Caribbean during her doctoral studies. Pangburn joined City College and the American Museum of Natural History for research, and was able to work with Susan Perkins, the Dean of Science, with expertise in Caribbean ecosystems.
Malaria, which is life-threatening, is mostly found in tropical countries and is spread by mosquitoes. Globally, there were 597,000 deaths due to malaria in 2023. With Perkins’ help, Pangburn found that not all types of Plasmodium infect red blood cells– they also infect white blood cells. Lizards with malaria parasites have similar processes or have the ability to process just like human malaria parasites.
“What I found is that they do have the same genes as the human malaria parasites, and they are using them because they’re producing RNA for those genes.”
Through her dissertation, Characterizing Malaria Infections in Caribbean Lizards: Parasites Niche Expansion & Host Response, Pangburn was able to travel to Puerto Rico and Saba, thanks to grant funding from the CUNY Graduate Center. After collecting blood samples from the lizards, Pangburn flew back to New York to start researching her samples. She found that “across all three parasites, they’re doing similar processes (to humans) or they have the ability to do similar processes as the malaria parasite.” Throughout her time at CCNY, Pangburn was also a lab teaching assistant with Perkins, and taught Biology 101, Parasitology, and Disease and History, which focused on the different diseases throughout human history.
At CCNY she learned that she enjoyed teaching, “the students at CCNY are awesome, and it was really nice to see them get excited about biology, especially when you’re in the middle of your Ph.D. it can get a bit intense” she said. Pangburn plans to continue her research on malaria parasites, but since funding for research in the United States is tougher to find, she will start her search in Europe. When she went for undergrad at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, Pangburn double majored in biology and German studies. Currently in Germany, she believes she might put her old skills to the test when it comes to searching for a job. “It is kind of funny to try to go back to my German language skills because it’s been 10 years. I’m like, wow, I really need to practice.” She also said that teaching might be a possibility in the future.
“I want for my immediate future, like the next few years, I want to focus on research a bit more just to gain more experience, but I definitely would consider going back to teaching for sure.”
Emma is an undergraduate student at Baruch College, where she is studying Journalism and Psychology. She’s Editor-in-Chief for Dollars & Sense magazine and Business Editor for The Ticker newspaper. As well as a freelance writer at BK Reader.