Scientists ‘closing the gap’ on malaria research in India
SEATTLE: The National Institutes of Health has renewed a major grant that funds a University of Washington-led research centre to understand malaria in India.
The initiative — Malaria Evolution in South Asia, which was first funded in 2010 — is one of 10 NIH-supported International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research, or ICE M Rs. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced that it would provide US$9.3 million in funds to the South Asia ICEMR over the next seven years, beginning July 1, 2017. South Asia sits in the middle of the malaria corridor that cuts from Southeast Asia to Africa.
“India is a country of critical importance for understanding the spread of virulent malaria globally,” said Pradipsinh K. Rathod, a UW professor of chemistry and the director of the Malaria Evolution in South Asia ICEMR. “While most deaths caused by drug-resistant strains of malaria have occurred in Africa, most drug-resistant parasites arise first in Asia.”
Over 90 per cent of India’s population of 1.3 billion live in areas where there is risk of malaria transmission. India had an estimated 13 million cases of malaria in 2015, according to the World Health Organisation. Beyond that, the picture of malaria in India is one of diversity.
“There is enormous variation in the prevalence of malaria around the country — variation in levels of immunity and variation in the species of mosquitoes that spread the disease,” said Laura Chery, the South Asia ICEMR’s associate director. “Most importantly, there is unexpectedly high genetic diversity in malaria parasites that are circulating in India.”
In addition to researchers from the UW, the South Asia ICEMR also includes US scientists from Harvard University, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Stanford University. But by far the largest contingent of researchers that make up the centre’s efforts are the dozens of scientists, clinicians and field workers at sites across India.
“We believe that movement of people within the country can partly explain the complexity of malaria in India,” said Rathod.
“However, we do not fully understand the basis for such variations.”
At each site, staff enrol patients to obtain malaria para site samples, as well as information on each patient’s health history.
“By getting a clearer picture of malaria in India, we’re ‘closing the gap’ on how this complex parasite behaves globally,” Rathod said. — Newswise