Sarah Volkman has over twenty years of experience in malaria biology and is a world expert on malaria with a focus on mechanisms of drug resistance. Her primary research interest centers on understanding genetic variation in Plasmodium falciparum, a causative agent of human malaria infection. She is particularly interested in using population genetic strategies to identify genetic loci that contribute to drug resistance in this organism. She is currently working toward the development of a genetic Diversity Map for P. falciparum that may ultimately be used to associate genetic polymorphisms with biologically and clinically relevant phenotypes. 

Sarah received her B.A. from the University of California, San Diego cum laude in 1986 and her ScD from Division of Biological Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1995.  She conducted postdoctoral studies with Dr. Dyann Wirth at the Harvard School of Public Health and was made senior research scientist in 1998.  Sarah Volkman is a molecular biologist and senior research scientist in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease at the Harvard School of Public Health and a member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is also an Associate Professor of Nursing at the School for Health Studies at Simmons College.

S.D., 1995, Harvard School of Public Health

B.S., 1986, University of California, San Diego

1. Vogt M, Lesley J, Bogenberger J, Volkman S, Haas M. 1986. Coinfection with viruses carrying the v-Ha-ras and v-myc oncogenes leads to growth factor independence by an indirect mechanism. Mol Cell Biol. 6:3545-3549.

2. Gjerset RA, Yeargin J, Volkman SK, Vila V, Arya J, Haas M. 1990. Insulin-like growth factor-I supports proliferation of autocrine thymic lymphoma cells with a pre-T cell phenotype. J Immunol. 145:3497-3501.

3. Kusumi K, Conway B, Cunningham S, Berson A, Evans C, Iversen AKN, Colvin D, Gallo MV, Coutre S, Shpaer EG, Faulkner DV, deRonde A, Volkman S, Williams C, Hirsch MS, Mullins JI. 1992. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope gene structure and diversity in vivo and after cocultivation in vitro. J Virology 66:875-885.

4. Gjerset RA, Arya J, Volkman S, Haas M. Association of induction of a fully tumorigenic phenotype in murine radiation-induced T-lymphoma cells with loss of differentiation antigens, gain of CD44, and alterations in p53 protein levels. 1992. Mol Carcinogenesis 5:190-198.

5. Wilson CM, Volkman SK, Thaithong, S, Martin RK, Kyle DE, Milhous WK, Wirth DF. 1992. Amplification of pfmdr1 associated with mefloquine and halofantrine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum from Thailand. Mol Biochem Parasit. 57:151.

6. Volkman SK, Wilson CM, Wirth D. 1993 Stage-specific transcripts of the Plasmodium falciparum pfmdr1 gene. Mol Biochem Parasit. 57:203-211.

7. Volkman SK, Cowman AF, Wirth DF. 1995. Functional complementation of the ste6 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with the pfmdr1 gene of Plasmodium falciparum. PNAS. 92:8921-8925.

8. Bozdech Z, Delling U, Volkman SK, Cowman AF, Schurr E. 1996. Cloning and sequence analysis of a novel member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein gene family from Plasmodium falciparum. Mol Biochem Parasit 81:41-51.

9. Volkman SK. 1997. Pgh1 Expression and drug resistance in Saccharomyces cserevisiae. Parasit Today 13:208-209.

10. Perkins ME, Volkman S, Wirth DF, Le Blancq SM. 1997. Characterization of an ATP-binding cassette transporter in Cryptosporidium parvum. Mol Biochem Parasit, 87:117-122.

11. Chow LMC, Volkman SK. 1998. Plasmodium and Leishmania: The role of mdr genes in mediating drug resistance. Exp Parasit. 90:135-141.

12. Volkman S, Wirth, D. Functional analysis of pfmdr1 gene of Plasmodium falciparum. ABC Transporters: Biochemical. 1998; 292:174-181.

13. Chow LMC, Volkman, SK, Opperdoes, FR, Russell DG, Wirth DF. Drug resistance in Leishmania enriettii is mediated by an intracellular ABC transporter. Cell. 1999; submitted.

14. Volkman SK, Barry AE, Lyons EJ, Nielsen, KM, Thomas S, Choi, M, Thakore SS, Day KP, Wirth DF. Recent origin of Plasmodium falciparum from a single progenitor. Science. 2001; 293:482-484.

15. Volkman SK, Hartl DL, Wirth DF, Nielsen KM, Choi M, Batalov S, Zhou Y, Plouffe D, LeRoch K, Abagyan R, Winzeler EA. Excess polymorphisms in genes for membrane proteins in Plasmodium falciparum. Science. 2002; 298(5591):216-218.

16. Volkman SK, Hartl DL. Parasitology. A game of cat and mouth. Science. 2003; 299(5605): 353-354.

17. Nielson KM, Kasper J, Choi M, Bedford T, Kristiansen K, Wirth DF, Volkman SK, Lozovsky ER, Hartl DL. Gene conversion as a source of nucleotide diversity in Plasmodium falciparum. Mol Biol Evol. 2003 20(5):726-734.

18. Duraisingh M, Ferdig MT, Stoeckert CJ, Volkman SK, McGovern VP. Plasmodium research in the postgenomic era. Trends Parasitol. 2006 22(1): 1-4.

19. Kidgell C, Volkman SK, Daily J, Borevitz JO, Plouffe D, Zhou Y, Johnson JR, Le Roch K, Sarr O, Ndir O, Mboup S, Bataloy S, Wirth DF, Winzeler EA. A systematic map of genetic variation in Plasmodium falciparum. PLoS Pathog. 2006 2(6): e57

20. Bethke LL, Zilversmit M, Nielsen K, Daily J, Volkman SK, Ndiaye D, Lozovsky ER, Hartl DL, Wirth DF. Duplication, gene conversion, and genetic diversity in the species-specific acyl-CoA synthetase gene family of Plasmodium falciparum. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2006 150(1): 10-24.

21. Volkman SK, Sabeti PC, DeCaprio D, Neafsey D, Schaffner SF, Milner DA, Daily JP, Sarr O, Ndiaye D, Ndir O, Mboup S, Duraisingh MT, Lukens A, Derr A, Stange-Thomann N, Waggoner S, Onofrio R, Ziaugra L, Mauceli E, Gnerre S, Jaffe DB, Zainoun J, Wiegand RC, Birren BW, Hartl DL, Galagan JE, Lander ES, Wirth DF. A genome-wide map of diversity in Plasmodium falciparum. Nature Genetics. 2007; 39(1); 113-119.

22. Volkman SK, Lozovsky E, Barry AE, Bedford T, Bethke L, Myrick A, Day KP, Hartl DL, Wirth DF, Sawyer SA. Genomic Heterogeneity in the Density of Noncoding Single-Nucleotide and Microsatellite Polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum. Gene. 2007; 387(1-2):1-6.