Malaria

In Tanzania, malaria affects 12 million and kills about 70,000 citizens yearly. Techniques for mapping intra-village variations, which would allow targeting of hotspots of residual transmission, are lacking.  A home-based geo-information system developed by this project will identify the hotspots and focus elimination efforts.

Considerable efforts are being made to stabilize the production of natural Artemisinin. Although progress is being made, there are still significant concerns about availability and high costs. Two additional initiatives are being developed to bring further stability to the ACT supply chain: Semi-synthetic Artemisinin produced from microbially sourced Artemisinic acid, a precursor to Artemisinin. This initiative was originally funded by the Gates Foundation. Commercialization has been taken up by Sanofi under the guidance of the WHO.

The project aims at producing an affordable, accessible and efficacious phytomedicine that can be dispensed as is, with the ultimate goal of contributing to control of malaria especially in Sub Saharan Africa.

Malaria affects half of the world's population. To address this problem, a web-based in silico database of Kenyan natural products will be developed for virtual screening against the malaria parasite. The hits from the virtual screen will then be synthesized and optimized for maximum antimalarial activity. The study will contribute novel templates for the discovery of antimalarial drugs.

Problem: Prompt access to effective antimalarials is the cornerstone for eliminating malaria deaths. Yet, access to effective antimalarials in rural remote areas, where malaria burden is highest, is poor. Implication: Through scaling up of ADDOs, Tanzania can take advantage of the mushrooming motorcycle transport business to ensure that antimalarials reach the neediest; thus attaining the dream ‘Tanzania without malaria deaths is possible’.

Malaria is one of the biggest infectious killers globally and drug resistance is a major reason why. Our project seeks to circumvent drug resistance by targeting a molecular chaperone called Heat Shock Protein 90, the master regulator of the parasite stress response. Follow University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine on Twitter @uofcmedicine"

This project aims to rescue a child with cerebral malaria from death or long-term cognitive impairment, by protecting their brain. The idea is to use PPARg agonists, a type of anti-diabetic drug, to treat cerebral malaria. PPARg agonists have neuro-protective and neuro-regenerative properties, that may help to reduce and repair malaria-caused brain injury

Current malaria surveillance relies on identifying the malaria parasite by microscopy and detecting soluble parasite antigens using Rapid Diagnostic Tests. Both techniques do not detect low-level, non-evident malaria infections, and are inherently hazardous and invasive. This innovative idea aims to develop a non-invasive, thermo-stable, saliva-based and field adaptable molecular method for nation-wide surveillance of malaria in Cameroon and Senegal. The technique will stabilize Malaria parasite DNA in saliva at ambient temperatures for up to one year, saving the cost of cold storage.

We propose a simple, affordable and practical approach to differentiate between malaria and bacterial diseases and guide treatment through the use of a combined rapid test based on two validated markers of bacterial and malaria infection.

To develop a diagnostic assay that will simultaneously detect and quantify p.falciparum in patients. It will be non-invasive, easily adaptable, hence improve patient compliance and management, leading to reduced mortality from unreliable lab results.