Infectious Disease

Insect Parasitic Nematode, Romanomermis iyengari, in Malaria Control. Université d'Abomey-Calavi. The project proposes to develop sustainable, non-chemical control of malaria vectors through the use of this roundworm. Expected output of the project is suppression of the proliferation of malaria vectors, and significant reduction of malaria transmission in pilot areas.

Colombian men exposed to malaria are found to have antibodies that can prevent infection in the placenta of a pregnant woman. This University of Alberta finding forms the basis for developing a novel vaccine against several forms of malaria, which cause 10,000 maternal deaths and 200,000 stillbirths annually. We discovered that men exposed to malaria have antibodies that can prevent infection in the placenta. This unexpected finding forms the basis of a novel approach to a vaccine that protects pregnant women exposed to multiple species of malaria.

To eradicate malaria, it is crucial to counter P. vivax that is more widespread than P. falciparum. Our idea is to develop novel vaccines that target P. vivax by blocking its invasion of human red cells and reduce disease burden.

Despite years of intensive efforts using conventional approaches to vaccine design, there is currently no effective vaccine against malaria. New approaches are crucial. The ""Plant virus based nanoparticles as an adjuvant for the development of an efficient and low cost vaccine against malaria"project aims to use nanoparticles derived from papaya mosaic virus (PapMV-NP) as an adjuvant to develop a novel malaria vaccine that would be safe, efficacious and low-cost.

People living in rural areas are exposed to infectious mosquito bites at times when they are not using bed nets. We propose using sisal fibers treated with transfluthrin repellent to prevent mosquito bites hence confer protection indoors and outdoors.

Subsistence itinerant rice farmers often live in improvised semi-open shacks, thus they are disproportionately more exposed to infectious mosquito bites than the general population. We propose using portable and low-cost huts that are both fire-proof and mosquito-proof to prevent mosquito-borne illnesses, and hence increase productivity of these itinerant farming households. The project will demonstrate the utility of such simple technologies for improving health among transient communities like pastoralists, similarly under-served by conventional health systems.

This innovative project combines two facts of life in Tanzania: the abundance of unused chicken feathers (a waste by-product of food production and not typically recycled) and the prevalence of malaria, a major health burden. Mosquito nets have proven effective against malaria transmission, but are not readily accessible and affordable to every family. The innovators will recycle chicken feathers from markets and people’s homes to produce mosquito nets from keratin fibers (found in hair).

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.