Faculty across Yale University are collaborating to exchange ideas and develop multidisciplinary solutions to combat malaria, a disease that claims an estimated one life every minute. The faculty network includes researchers working on almost every aspect of malaria, from the mosquito to the environment to the human host to drugs and vaccines. The network was started by the Yale Institute for Global Health and includes partnerships across the globe.
Malaria
Malaria remains as one of the most important causes of childhood morbidity in mortality, with nearly 90% of the burden falling in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Sunil Parikh has been working together with colleagues in Uganda and Burkina Faso to conduct field-based studies of malaria in vulnerable populations, namely young children, pregnant women, and those with HIV co-infection. The Parikh Lab has focused on understanding the determinants of drug efficacy in these vulnerable populations with the goal of impacting policy. Through a combination of clinical trials, observational field-based studies, and lab-based work, the Parikh lab is characterizing the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of artemisinin-based combination therapies, and using multifaceted approaches to optimize the use of these drugs to improve efficacy, reduce toxicity, and deter the development and spread of drug resistance, both in the context of treatment and prevention. In Burkina Faso, work has additionally focused on understanding the immunogenetic basis for differential susceptibility to malaria in the Fulani ethnic group. Other recent/current project sites include Bhutan, Nigeria, and Malawi. Secondary faculty working on malaria include Professors Erol Fikrig and Richard Bucala. The Fikrig lab focuses on studies of anopheles vector biology and the Bucula lab on immunogenetics of malaria susceptibility.
Faculty of Interest
Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Mircrobial Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health
Research Interests- Africa
- Ecology
- Genetics
- Genetics, Population
- Senegal
- Malaria, Falciparum
- Molecular Epidemiology
- Malaria Vaccines
- Disease Transmission, Infectious
- Genomics
- Host-Pathogen Interactions
- Adaptive Immunity
- Biostatistics
Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and of Infectious Diseases; Co-Chair Downs Fellowship, Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases; co-PI Yale Malaria Evolution and Environments Laboratory, Anthropology
Research Interests- Africa
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Developing Countries
- Diagnosis
- Epidemiology
- Malaria
- Parasitic Diseases
- Public Health
- Uganda
- Global Health
- Infectious Disease Medicine
Secondary & Adjunct Faculty
Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) and Professor of Pathology and of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Chief, Rheumatology, Allergy, & Immunology; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Rheumatologist in Chief, Rheumatology, YNHH
Research Interests- Africa
- Epidemiology
- Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors
- Malaria
- Pathology
- Public Health
- Rheumatology
- Stem Cells
- Global Health
- Communicable Diseases, Emerging
- Infectious Disease Medicine
Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and of Microbial Pathogenesis; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Section Chief, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine
Research Interests- Bacteria
- Epidemiology
- Lyme Disease
- Parasitology
- Public Health
- Ticks
- Viruses
- West Nile virus
- Global Health
- Ehrlichiosis
- Malaria Vaccines
- Borrelia burgdorferi
- Infectious Disease Medicine