Suzanne McDermott, PhD
Acting Assistant Professor
Dr. McDermott’s research encompasses understanding protozoan pathogen biology and also human immune responses to their infection/vaccination, focusing on two main areas: (1) Studying the molecular biology of trypanosomes to understand potential therapeutic targets, using a combination of structural proteomics and genetics, and (2) identification of protective antigens, antigen receptors, and immune responses following malaria infection and vaccination, using multi-omic, systems approaches.
Dr. McDermott’s research has led to a deep understanding of key protein domains and interactions in therapeutic targets that carry out essential RNA editing in trypanosomes. She also developed genetic tools that allowed high-throughput mutational scanning to be carried out for the first time in trypanosomes, which has led to new insights into target protein function. She became excited to apply similar high-throughput molecular, proteomic, and genetic approaches to more translational questions, specifically the important characterization of immune antigen receptor-pathogen antigen interactions following malaria vaccination and infection. Here she has, 1) adapted the yeast display system for surface expression of selected malaria antigens and their cognate antibodies such that their interactions can be determined via a synthetic yeast mating assay (AlphaSeq), and 2) initiated multi-omic studies of single cell transcriptomes, surface proteins, and antigen receptors in heterogenous immune cell samples from malaria vaccine trial subjects.
Dr. McDermott also teaches in the Pathobiology Graduate Program at the University of Washington Department of Global Health.