Postdoctoral Associate

At work, I am only interested in 28 chromosome ends and 60 var genes in Plasmodium falciparum. My work in the Deitsch lab focuses on the influence of chromatin structure on gene expression and DNA repair. Outside work, I am an outdoor person. I run, hike, travel and look for good food. At home, I am a decent cook and trying to grow some plants. I have a not so friendly cat and hopefully will have a second one soon. I believe that science is for every one and curiosity is the key. #BLM, #womeninscience

Publications:

Zhang, X., Deitsch, K.W. and Kirkman, L.A. (2020) The Contribution of Extrachromosomal DNA to Genome Plasticity in Malaria Parasites, Molecular Microbiology, In press.

Zhang, X., Alexander, N., Leonardi, I., Mason, C., Kirkman, L.A. and Deitsch, K.W. (2019) Rapid antigen diversification through mitotic recombination in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. PLOS Biology, 17: e3000271.

Ukaegbu, U.E., Zhang, X., Heinberg, A.R., Wele, M., Chen, Q. and Deitsch, K.W. (2015) A unique virulence gene occupies a principal position in immune evasion by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. PLoS Genetics, 11: e1005234.