Field based study towards development of PfEMP1 based malaria vaccine

Despite reports of a decline, Plasmodium falciparum malaria is responsible for an overwhelming disease burden in Africa and deployment of effective malaria vaccines would lead to major health gains, especially among most vulnerable groups, namely young children and pregnant women. Tanzania and Denmark are in the international forefront of malaria vaccine research. Tanzania has developed the human resources and technical infrastructure to conduct clinical malaria vaccine trials in compliance with the Good Clinical Practices. Research groups in Denmark are internationally recognised as leading the efforts to develop pregnancy associate malaria vaccine and in defining antigens for severe malaria in children. The current project focuses on a malaria vaccine research needs-assessment and the aspiration of linking the research towards malaria capacity development consortium (MCDC) to fill the identified institutional needs at the Tanzanian institutions (NIMR and KCMUC ). The project will optimise the pregnancy malaria vaccine construct and vaccine delivery system; define new antigens for a vaccine to protect children against severe malaria, and train two students at Masters level at KCMUC and field work in Korogwe, to be able to conduct malaria research and present their findings to various stakeholders.