Jürgen Bosch

Rank: Assistant Professor
Joined BMB: January 2, 2009
Upbringing: Asunçion, Paraguay; Lagos, Nigeria; Munich, Germany

Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Wim G.J. Hol, University of Washington, Seattle

Research Interests: Our current research interests are focused on the invasion machinery of the Plasmodium parasite, the causative agent of malaria, leading to 300–500 million infections per year and more than 1 million deaths worldwide.

The invasion machinery, which is required to traverse host membranes is well conserved throughout the genus Apicomplexa, including Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium. Our aim is to gain structural insights via X-ray crystallography into the interacting partners of the invasion machinery. Based on our structural studies, we try to identify novel compounds which render the interaction between these partners impossible, forming the basis for the development of novel drug-like compounds for future use in malaria prevention and therapeutic treatment.

"The prospect of joining the BMB Department and the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute was very attractive because of my interest in synergistically combining research efforts which could lead to novel anti-malarials in the future. The collegial and collaborative environment at JHU is a great asset."
- Jürgen Bosch