Training Spotlight: Msano Mandalasi
Msano Mandalasi, a post-doctoral trainee in Chris West‘s laboratory, is originally from Malawi, (located in southeastern Africa) and obtained her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Malawi. After graduation, she worked briefly for the University of Malawi and then came to the US to obtain a Master’s degree in Chemistry. Later, she enrolled in a doctoral graduate program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where she graduated in 2012. She spent two years teaching undergraduate Chemistry before deciding to get back into research. She joined Dr. West’s group while he was at the University of Oklahoma and moved with the lab to the University of Georgia.
Msano’s research focus
The focus of Msano’s project is on the role of prolyl hydroxylation and glycosylation of E3 Ubiquitin ligase on Toxoplasma growth.
With a research background mostly in chemistry and biochemistry, her graduate research introduced her to some aspect of parasitology working on Schistosome glycobiology. However, she did not have a strong background in molecular biology prior to joining the West lab. This current project merges glycobiology and molecular biology and also extends some parasitology studies, thus giving her the opportunity to learn molecular biology and parasitology to complement her chemistry background. A combination of this expert knowledge will benefit her to address the research objectives on her Toxoplasma project.
Capstone experience
Each T32 trainee is provided with the opportunity to complete a capstone experience at the end of their fellowship. This experience allows for an extended visit to a collaborator’s laboratory or travel to a scientific meeting where they present their research and interact with colleagues. Msano plans to use her capstone experience to give oral presentations at scientific meetings, to publish some of the studies conducted within this time period, and interact with other trainees in the program.
T32 fellowship helps trainees achieve their goals
“Through the funding provided by the T32 Training Grant, I will be able to address research questions that should lead to launching my own area of research,” said Msano.
Msano hopes to run her own independent research program in academia one day.