Saúl Rojas Sánchez, PhD

Saúl Rojas Sánchez, Ph.D., is an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale School of Public Health in the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases department. He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine from the National Autonomous University of Mexico as part of the doctoral program of the Postgraduate School in Biological Sciences. During his undergraduate and graduate studies his research focused on the characterization of the specific DNA sequences responsible for promoting transcription of the U2 small nuclear RNA in the trypanosomatid parasite Leishmania major, which causes the disease known as leishmaniasis. The current studies of Dr. Saúl, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Christian Tschudi, are focused toward understanding the molecular mechanisms causing gain of infectivity and quiescence in the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, the etiological agent of human and animal African trypanosomiasis.