Malawi ICEMR Project
The goal of the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research, or ICEMR, is to establish research centers in malaria-endemic settings that will provide the necessary knowledge, tools, and evidence-based strategies for use by government organizations and health care institutions.
Malaria remains a huge problem. Over 40% of the world's population are at risk of contracting the disease. Sustainable and effective malaria control requires an improved understanding of the complex interactions among the parasite, the mosquito vector, and the human host in local clinical and field settings.
Novel drugs, diagnostics and vaccines, as well as vector management strategies will need to be developed, evaluated and ultimately utilized in malaria-endemic locations.
Thus, a multidisciplinary research approach is urgently needed to address these complex interactions at the molecular, cellular, organismic, population and field levels in malaria-endemic areas in order to provide the knowledge base necessary for improved clinical and field management of malaria, as well as to guide the development of new tools and interventions.
Led by Terrie Taylor and Don Mathanga, the primary objectives of research supported by the Malawi ICEMR are to identify, understand, and evaluate interventions that target the determinants of malaria disease.