115 years of malaria data collected in Africa gives the most detailed picture yet of where efforts to control malaria infection are being won and lost across the continent. The largest data repository of any parasitic disease in the world, it includes 7.8 million blood samples from more than 30,000 locations in 43 countries. The dataset was collected and analysed by KEMRI-Wellcome Trust researchers based in Kenya, and is the result of over 20 years of research funded by Wellcome. The study...

Professor Bob Snow from our KEMRI-Wellcome programme in Nairobi, Kenya, tells us how his research brings together epidemiological profiles and government policies to maximise malaria control programmes in Africa Quality data is vital to design better malaria control programmes. This project helps various African countries gather epidemiological evidence to better control malaria. Professor Bob Snow showed how sub-regional, evidence-based platforms can effectively change malaria treatment...

Dr Lorenz von Seidlein from our MORU unit in Bangkok, Thailand, tells us about his research on malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong sub-region Multidrug resistant P. falciparum malaria is now established in parts of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, causing high treatment failure rates for artemisinin combination therapies, the main falciparum malaria medicines. A further spread from Myanmar to India then sub-Saharan Africa would be a global public health disaster. TME seeks the best ways to...

Dr Georgina Humphreys coordinates the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) study groups by encouraging partner engagement and managing the data curation and development of publications. WWARN is a network of research that analyses pooled data of numerous clinical trials. The sheer size of those data sets allows study groups to answer questions that couldn't be asked of a normal size clinical trial, such as the efficacy of an anti-malarial drug on malnourished or severely anaemic...

Dr Mehul Dhorda heads the Asia Regional Centre of the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN). Artemisinin resistance is firmly established in many parts of Southeast Asia and threatens the lives of millions of people. To improve regional intelligence and aid containment efforts, Dr Dhorda promotes the collection of high quality data on malaria drug resistance. His research aims to simplify and harmonise data, securely store results and analyse comparative or collective pooled...

There is a great need for better treatments for malaria and for a preventative malaria vaccine. SPACIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY & VACCINES Understanding the variation of malaria risk between houses, villages or region, and how malaria is transmitted in and around that variability helps develop better malaria control programmes and use their resources more wisely. Since malaria control tools are becoming less effective with time, progress in vaccine design is essential. Creative Commons...

In pregnant women, severe malaria is responsible for high maternal mortality, and uncomplicated malaria results in in high morbidity. Professor Rose McGready works on the treatment and epidemiology of uncomplicated malaria in pregnancy. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable as pregnancy reduces the immunity to malaria, increasing the susceptibility to malaria infection and the risk of illness, severe anaemia and death. For the unborn child, maternal malaria increases the risk of...

Over 250 Institutions participate in the effort of sharing data on the efficacy of antimalarial drugs, which involves standardising and re-analysing data. Professor Philippe Guérin is Director of the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN). The best lines of defence against malaria are avoidance of mosquito bites and effective drug therapy. WWARN tracks the emergence of antimalarial drug resistance to ensure that anyone affected by malaria receives effective and safe drug treatment....

Artemisinins are very poweful tools in the treatment of malaria, and the emerging loss of their activity has the potential to create a major public health problem. MALARIA TREATMENT Dr Charlie Woodrow is based at MORU in Bangkok, Thailand, where he coordinates clinical and laboratory studies on resistance to artemisinins. Bringing together diverse datasets of clinical, in vitro and molecular data has helped better understand the emerging resistance, particularly in Myanmar. Creative Commons...

Too high a dose can result in toxicity and side-effects, too low a dose can cause the illness to come back and at worse develop resistance. Professor Joel Tarning is Head of Clinical Pharmacology in our MORU Unit in Bangkok, Thailand. He's working towards drug dose-optimisation using novel pharmacometric modelling approaches. He is particularly interested in antimalarial treatments for children and pregnant women. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England &...

Between research and humanitarian Professor François Nosten's work concentrates on infectious diseases at the Thai-Burma border. The main focus of his research is on malaria, especially malaria in pregnant women and emerging drug resistance of malaria parasites. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Professor Nick White talks about the future of artemisinin and other drug therapies for malaria. Malaria kills more than half a million people every year. Following a number of groundbreaking clinical trials, Professor Nick White and his Thailand team successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of artemisinin drug therapy for malaria in adults, children and infants. He also pioneered artemisinin combination therapy, the first-line treatment for malaria worldwide. Creative Commons...

Dr Sumi Biswas talks about the development of a vaccine aimed at the mosquito stage of the malaria parasite cycle. Malaria transmission-blocking vaccines aim to induce immunity against the parasites that infect mosquitoes. Such vaccines will prevent malaria transmission on a wider scale, focusing on the community rather than the individual. Dr Sumi Biswas is working on the development of transmission-blocking vaccines to prevent the spread of malaria. Creative Commons...

Dr Simon Draper tells us about his progress in malaria vaccine research. The malaria parasite is a 'master of disguise'. Whilst the development of a vaccine has proved difficult, targeting a pathway for the parasite has led to the neutralisation of all strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Dr Simon Draper's research interests include studies of vaccine-induced malaria immunity and trials of vaccine candidates. Focusing on translational medicine, his group will take their most promising vaccine...