Activities

Malaria is responsible for a considerable burden of death and disease in large areas of the tropical and sub-tropical world. Unfortunately, those countries hardest hit by the disease are often amongst the poorest. Despite continuing efforts, the approved vaccine against the disease is not highly effective. To design and implement effective disease intervention strategies, one of the critical priorities in malaria research is strengthening our understanding of the basic biology of the parasite. We are investigating some fundamental aspects of the parasite’s life cycle with a specific focus on two major virulent- related factors; the molecular mechanism behind the erythrocyte invasion and the cytoadherence of parasite-infected erythrocytes. We utilize a variety of malaria parasites, including human-infecting Plasmodium falciparum, the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium yoelii, and Plasmodium knowlesi, a causative agent of zoonotic human malaria. To expand a platform for basic and clinical malaria research, we are investigating the molecular evolution and drug resistance of P. falciparum in endemic countries, malaria vaccine development, development of diagnostic and control methods for zoonotic malaria, and mosquito and liver stages of human infectious malaria parasites.