Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

At the Second Annual Center for Infectious Diseases conference this past February, senior biology major Ben Vaccaro stood by the poster he developed with others in Dr. Paul Roepe’s biochemistry laboratory. It was his first scientific meeting, and he was prepared to answer questions about the experiments he conducted and helped design in Dr. Roepe’s lab.

When a conference participant asked Ben Vaccaro, "What have your experiments demonstrated?" the senior biology major went into a detailed explanation of the complex machinery that allows the malaria parasite to escape the effects of drugs. “We’ve been investigating two competing hypotheses to explain how a particular membrane protein confers drug resistance seen in some cases of malaria. The first hypothesis is that ion transport is involved, and the second hypothesis, which my data supports, is that there is a drug transporter involved.” 

Vaccaro was a co-author with graduate student Michelle Paguio and Roepe on a poster titled, “Characterization of Chloroquine Transport in Inside-Out Vesicles (ISOV's) Harboring PfCRT”.

Over the past two years, in between classes and exams, Vaccaro has put in long hours in the research lab, preparing to answer these questions based on his research. In the summer of 2005 he was awarded a Zukowski Undergraduate Research Scholarship from the Georgetown University Department of Biology and worked full-time in Dr. Roepe’s laboratories.

Vaccaro’s work has involved preparing “inside-out vesicles” to investigate membrane proteins and their properties related to cellular transport of anti-malarial drugs like chloroquine. The anti-malarial drug chloroquine passively diffuses into red-blood cells harboring the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The actions of chloroquine in the parasite lead to the destruction of the parasite. Understanding the process of chloroquine transport both into and out of the parasite is essential to learning why some Plasmodium falciparum parasites become resistant to the drug.

“When you’re in the lab, sometimes you get an epiphany about how science works, and until you get that experience, you’ve just memorized facts,” says Vaccaro.

He was able to achieve this experience at Georgetown with support of Dr. Roepe and his fellow lab members. Vaccaro graduated this May and is now attending the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons to begin M.D. training.

Print Article