Working together to combat malaria.
"...information at the molecular level is vital to gain insights
into the pathogenesis of malaria, and potentially offers
the opportunity to develop better drugs."
~ Subra Suresh
Research programmesThe fight against malaria requires a variety of intervention tools. Because the disease is spread by mosquitoes, certain intervention tools are required at this level. The goal of intervention at this level is to stop the disease from being spread to humans, by preventing mosquito bites. This is achieved through the use of insecticides. However, not all mosquitoes are involved in spreading malaria parasites, and it is therefore important to distinguish between those that do spread parasites (vectors) and those that don't play a role in transmission of malaria (non-vectors). This helps to ensure that resources are not wasted through trying to control mosquitoes that don't spread malaria. Once the parasite has been spread to humans, it is then necessary to detect the parasites in humans in order to dispense appropriate treatment and, of course, doctors and nurses need to have appropriate treatment at their disposal. With this in mind, SAMI has established three research programmes: Drug Discovery, which is aimed at delivering affordable malaria treatment; Diagnostics Development, to develop novel methods of parasite detection; and Vector-Parasite Biology and Molecular Epidemiology, aimed at developing new methods of distinguishing between mosquito vectors and non-vectors. |
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