Professor Kiaran Kirk

Position

Director, Research School of Biology
College of Medicine, Biology and Environment
The Australian National University
Canberra, ACT
0200, AUSTRALIA

Contact

Research School of Biology
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA

T: +61 2 6125 4238
F: +61 2 6125 0758
E: kiaran.kirk@anu.edu.au
W: http://biology.anu.edu.au/

Research interests

My major research interest is in the physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology of the malaria parasite. My group uses a combination of biochemical, molecular and bioinformatic methods to study the mechanisms by which the malaria parasite acquires nutrients from its host, regulates its ionic and biochemical composition, expels metabolic wastes, and develops resistance to, antimalarial drugs.

Qualifications

BSc(Hons) 1985
PhD (Sydney) 1989
MA (Oxon) 1996
DPhil (Oxon) 1996

Ten Most Significant Publications

Kirk, K., Horner, H.A., Elford, B.C., Ellory, J.C. and Newbold, C.I. (1994) Transport of diverse substrates into malaria-infected erythrocytes via a pathway showing functional characteristics of a chloride channel, J. Biol. Chem., 269, 3339-3347

Saliba, K.J. and Kirk, K. (1999) pH regulation in the intracellular malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum: H+ extrusion via a V-type H+-ATPase, J. Biol. Chem. 274, 33213-33219

Reed, M.B., Saliba, K.J., Caruana, S.R., Kirk, K. and Cowman, A.F. (2000) Pgh1 modulates sensitivity and resistance to multiple antimalarials in Plasmodium falciparum, Nature, 403, 906-909

Kirk, K. (2001) Membrane transport in the malaria-infected erythrocyte. Physiol. Rev. 81, 495-537
Allen, R.J.W. and Kirk, K. (2004) The membrane potential of the intraerythrocytic malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, J. Biol. Chem., 279, 11264-11272

Martin, R.E. and Kirk, K. (2004)  The malaria parasite’s chloroquine resistance transporter is a member of the drug/metabolite transporter superfamily. Mol. Biol. Evol. 21, 1938–1949

Martin, R.E., Henry, R.I., Abbey, J.L., Clements, J.D, and Kirk, K. (2005) The 'permeome' of the malaria parasite:  an overview of the membrane transport proteins of Plasmodium falciparum. Genome Biol. 6, R26

*Saliba, K.J., *Martin, R.E., Bröer, A., Henry, R.I., McCarthy, C.S., Downie, M.J., Allen, R.J.W., Mullin, K.A., McFadden, G.I., †Bröer, S. and †Kirk, K. (2006)  Sodium-dependent uptake of inorganic phosphate by the intracellular malaria parasite. Nature 443, 582-585 [*† Equal contributions]

Lehane, A.M., Hayward, R., Saliba K.J. and Kirk, K. (2008) A verapamil-sensitive chloroquine-associated H+ leak from the digestive vacuole in chloroquine-resistant malaria parasites. J. Cell Sci. 121, 1624-1632 

Dean, S., Marchetti, R., Kirk, K. and Matthews, K.R. (2009) A surface transporter family conveys the differentiation signal in African trypanosomes. Nature, 459, 213-217

Martin, R.E., Marchetti, R.V., Cowan, A.I., Howitt, S.M., Bröer, S. and Kirk, K. (2009) Chloroquine transport via the malaria parasite’s "Chloroquine Resistance Transporter". Science, 325, 1680-1682

Currently Held Grants

NH&MRC Project Grant:  Kirk, K. – $399,300 for 2009-2011 for the Project 2009-2011 'Transport of amino acids and polyamines in the malaria parasite'

NH&MRC Project Grant:  Saliba, K.J., Kirk, K., L. Tilley, A. Maier - $640,875 for 2010-2012 for the Project 'The Na+/H+ exchanger and H+-pumping pyrophosphatases of the malaria parasite'