PhD, Texas A&M University
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases
Zach is a postdoctoral researcher in the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He earned a Bachelor of Arts with departmental honors in Biology from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, along with a minor in Anthropology and an interdisciplinary concentration in Community and Global Health in 2013. As an undergraduate, he conducted research on the biogeography and evolution of Australian leaf-litter arachnids in Sarah Boyer’s lab, and spent a semester abroad in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar. After college, he spent a year teaching English as a Foreign Language to elementary schoolers in Cheongsong, South Korea before beginning a PhD in Entomology at Texas A&M University. Zach’s dissertation, conducted in Michel Slotman’s lab, focused on the genomic and evolutionary basis of host preference in the Anopheles gambiae complex of mosquitoes, the major vectors of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, he studied the expression patterns and molecular evolution of mosquito chemosensory genes. He also got a taste of old-school insect physiology experiments (and got to tie pantyhose around cow legs to collect sweat) as part of a project on the anatomy of mosquito host preference.
Zach joined IDEEL as a postdoc in October 2020, predominantly to work on a Gates Foundation-funded project on the molecular surveillance of malaria in Tanzania, in collaboration with partners at Brown University and the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Dar es Salaam. Zach’s role in this project is primarily to support the development of genomic and bioinformatic capacities at NIMR. Zach also works on an NIH-supported project in Cameroon focused on relapsing malarias in partnership with partners at the University of Florida, the Université de Dschang, and the Centre Pasteur du Cameroun. This project incorporates entomological research and also allows him to retain and improve his fluency in French (Swahili is still a work in progress). Zach also works broadly on non-falciparum malaria genomics and is broadly interested in infectious disease and vector genomics, evolution, and ecology. He is also passionate about science education and communication and has experience teaching undergraduate, professional, and graduate students about genomics, evolution, and medical/veterinary entomology.
