Emily R. Derbyshire

The Derbyshire Lab uses both chemical tools and biological methods to uncover novel aspects of malaria parasite biology with the ultimate aim of identifying druggable targets. Projects range from developing assays for phenotypic and target-based screens to exploring biological pathways and identifying small molecules with potential therapeutic value. Their interdisciplinary collaborative program integrates chemical biology, molecular biology and biochemistry to globally interrogate parasite biology.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Eads Family Professor · 2024 - Present Chemistry, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Professor of Chemistry · 2024 - Present Chemistry, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology · 2024 - Present Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Basic Science Departments

Associate Professor of Cell Biology · 2022 - Present Cell Biology, Basic Science Departments

Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society · 2021 - Present Duke Science & Society, University Initiatives & Academic Support Units

In the News

Published February 3, 2025

Celebrating Duke’s New Full Professors

Published September 21, 2021

Meet the Newly Tenured Faculty of 2021

Published February 18, 2021

The Potential of Trinity's 2021 Sloan Fellowship Winners

View All News

Recent Publications

Selective targeting of Plasmodium falciparum Hsp90 disrupts the 26S proteasome.

Journal Article Cell Chem Biol · April 18, 2024 The molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) has an essential but largely undefined role in maintaining proteostasis in Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal malaria parasite. Herein, we identify BX-2819 and XL888 as potent P. falciparum (Pf)Hsp9 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Meet the Authors: Christopher R. Mansfield and Emily R. Derbyshire.

Journal Article Cell chemical biology · April 2024 In an interview with Samantha Nelson, a scientific editor of Cell Chemical Biology, the first and corresponding authors of the research article entitled Selective targeting of Plasmodium falciparum Hsp90 disrupts the 26S proteasome share more about the pro ... Full text Cite

Toxoplasma and Plasmodium associate with host Arfs during infection.

Journal Article mSphere · March 2024 The apicomplexans Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium are intracellular parasites that reside within a host-derived compartment termed the parasitophorous vacuole (PV). During infection, the parasites must acquire critical host resources and tra ... Full text Cite

View All Publications

Education, Training & Certifications

University of California, Berkeley · 2008 Ph.D.

Trinity College · 2002 B.S.

External Links

Derbyshire Research Group