Sachel Mok, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine) at CUMC
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Overview

Sachel Mok is an Assistant Professor (in Medicine) in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). She received her BSc (Biological Sciences) with Honors and her PhD in molecular genetics and cell biology from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2006 and 2013, respectively. She was awarded the Human Frontier Science Program Long-term Fellowship in 2016 and moved from Singapore to New York where she joined the laboratory of Dr. David Fidock in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at CUIMC. Following the completion of her fellowship, Sachel joined the Division in 2022 as faculty in the Center for Antimalarial Therapeutics and Antimicrobial Resistance, Department of Medicine, CUIMC where she continues to pursue her research interests on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of multidrug resistance in malaria parasites.

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine) at CUMC

Languages

  • Chinese
  • English

Gender

  • Female

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BSc, 2006 Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • PhD, 2013 Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • Fellowship: 2020 Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Honors & Awards

  • 2023: ASTMH ACMCIP Take-Off Award in Parasitology Research
  • 2016 – 2020: Human Frontier Science Program Long-term Fellow
  • 2018 – 2019: Columbia University-University of Glasgow Research Exchange Award
  • 2007 – 2011: Nanyang Technological University Graduate Scholarship
  • 2011: Fogarty International Center, NIH and United Nations Foundation Travel Award

Research

Dr Mok is interested in defining the molecular genotypes and signatures associated with drug resistance in the malaria Plasmodium falciparum parasite in diverse genetic backgrounds. Her research employs systems-based multi-omics and genetic approaches to identify genetic determinants of antimalarial drug resistance, understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning resistance, and characterize the impact of these resistance-associated mutations on the parasite’s physiology, including fitness and transmission. 

She is currently leading studies to elucidate and delineate P. falciparum markers that mediate resistance to commonly used and novel antimalarial compounds by leveraging P. falciparum genetic crosses, coupled with quantitative genetic mapping approaches and gene-editing experiments. These studies will provide potential markers that can be used for molecular surveillance to examine the spread of antimalarial drug resistance in malaria-endemic populations, and help guide strategies for more effective deployment of artemisinin-based combination therapies, collectively aimed at reducing malaria’s massive impact on global health.

Selected Publications

  1. Mok S#, Yeo T, Hong D, Shears MJ, Ross LS, Ward KE, Dhingra SK, Kanai M, Bridgford JL, Tripathi AK, Mlambo G, Burkhard AY, Fairhurst KJ, Gil-Iturbe E, Park H, Rozenberg FD, Kim J, Mancia F, Quick M, Uhlemann AC, Sinnis P, Fidock DA# (2023). Mapping the genomic landscape of multidrug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum and its impact on parasite fitness. Science Advances 9: eadi2364. (#corresponding author)
  2. Mok S and Fidock DA (2023). Determinants of piperaquine-resistant malaria in South America. Lancet Infect Dis 10.1016/S1473-3099(23)00564-9.
  3. Okombo J*, Mok S*, Qahash T, Yeo T, Bath J, Orchard LM, Owens E, Koo I, Albert I, Llinas M and Fidock DA (2022). Piperaquine-resistant PfCRT mutations differentially impact drug transport, hemoglobin catabolism and parasite physiology in Plasmodium falciparum asexual blood stages. PLoS Pathog18: e1010926. (*first author)
  4. Kanai M, Yeo T, Asua V, Rosenthal PJ, Fidock DA# and Mok S# (2022). Comparative analysis of Plasmodium falciparum genotyping via SNP detection, microsatellite profiling, and whole-genome sequencing. Antimicrob Agents Chemother66: e0116321. (#corresponding author)
  5. Mok S, Stokes BH, Gnadig NF, Ross LS, Yeo T, Amaratunga C, Allman E, Solyakov L, Bottrill AR, Tripathi J, Fairhurst RM, Llinas M, Bozdech Z, Tobin AB and Fidock DA (2021). Artemisinin-resistant K13 mutations rewire Plasmodium falciparum's intra-erythrocytic metabolic program to enhance survival. Nature Communications 12: 530.
  6. Mathieu LC, Cox H, Early AM*, Mok S*, Lazrek Y, Paquet JC, Ade MP, Lucchi NW, Grant Q, Udhayakumar V, Alexandre JS, Demar M, Ringwald P, Neafsey DE, Fidock DA and Musset L (2020). Local emergence in Amazonia of Plasmodium falciparum K13 C580Y mutants associated with in vitro artemisinin resistance.Elife9: e51015. (*equal contribution)
  7. Rocamora F, Zhu L, Liong KY, Dondorp A, Miotto O, Mok S# and Bozdech Z# (2018). Oxidative stress and protein damage responses mediate artemisinin resistance in malaria parasites. PLoS Pathog14: e1006930. (#corresponding author)
  8. Ross LS, Dhingra SK, Mok S, Yeo T, Wicht KJ, Kumpornsin K, Takala-Harrison S, Witkowski B, Fairhurst RM, Ariey F, Menard D and Fidock DA (2018). Emerging Southeast Asian PfCRT mutations confer Plasmodium falciparum resistance to the first-line antimalarial piperaquine. Nature Communications 9: 3314.
  9. Mok S, Ashley EA, Ferreira PE, Zhu L, Lin Z, Yeo T, Chotivanich K, Imwong M, Pukrittayakamee S, Dhorda M, Nguon C, Lim P, Amaratunga C, Suon S, Hien TT, Htut Y, Faiz MA, Onyamboko MA, Mayxay M, Newton PN, Tripura R, Woodrow CJ, Miotto O, Kwiatkowski DP, Nosten F, Day NP, Preiser PR, White NJ, Dondorp AM, Fairhurst RM and Bozdech Z (2015). Population transcriptomics of human malaria parasites reveals the mechanism of artemisinin resistance. Science347: 431-435.
  10. Mok S, Liong KY, Lim EH, Huang X, Zhu L, Preiser PR and Bozdech Z (2014). Structural polymorphism in the promoter of pfmrp2 confers Plasmodium falciparum tolerance to quinoline drugs. Mol Microbiol91: 918-934.
  11. Mok S, Imwong M, Mackinnon MJ, Sim J, Ramadoss R, Yi P, Mayxay M, Chotivanich K, Liong KY, Russell B, Socheat D, Newton PN, Day NP, White NJ, Preiser PR, Nosten F, Dondorp AM and Bozdech Z (2011). Artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum is associated with an altered temporal pattern of transcription. BMC Genomics12: 391.
  12. Hu G, Cabrera A, Kono M, Mok S, Chaal BK, Haase S, Engelberg K, Cheemadan S, Spielmann T, Preiser PR, Gilberger TW and Bozdech Z (2010). Transcriptional profiling of growth perturbations of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Nature Biotechnology28: 91-98.
  13. Bozdech Z, Mok S, Hu G, Imwong M, Jaidee A, Russell B, Ginsburg H, Nosten F, Day NP, White NJ, Carlton JM and Preiser PR (2008). The transcriptome of Plasmodium vivax reveals divergence and diversity of transcriptional regulation in malaria parasites. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA105: 16290-16295.