Malaria evolution in South Asia: Knowledge for control and elimination

The International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) were established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases more than a decade ago to provide multidisciplinary research support to malaria control programs worldwide, operating in endemic areas and contributing technology, expertise, and ultimately policy guidance for malaria control and elimination. The Southern and Central Africa ICEMR has conducted research across three main sites in Zambia and Zimbabwe that differ in ecology, entomology, transmission intensity, and control strategies. Scientific findings led to new policies and action by the national malaria control programs and their partners in the selection of methods, materials, timing, and locations of case management and vector control. Malaria risk maps and predictive models of case detection furnished by the ICEMR informed malaria elimination programming in southern Zambia, and time series analyses of entomological and parasitological data motivated several major changes to indoor residual spray campaigns in northern Zambia. Along the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border, temporal and geospatial data are currently informing investigations into a recent resurgence of malaria. Other ICEMR findings pertaining to parasite and mosquito genetics, human behavior, and clinical epidemiology have similarly yielded immediate and long-term policy implications at each of the sites, often with generalizable conclusions. The ICEMR programs thereby provide rigorous scientific investigations and analyses to national control and elimination programs, without which the impediments to malaria control and their potential solutions would remain understudied.

New era at the NIH

Antimalarial drugs are key tools for the control and elimination of malaria. Recent decreases in the global malaria burden are likely due, in part, to the deployment of artemisinin-based combination therapies. Therefore, the emergence and potential spread of artemisinin-resistant parasites in southeast Asia and changes in sensitivities to artemisinin partner drugs have raised concerns. In recognition of this urgent threat, the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMRs) are closely monitoring antimalarial drug efficacy and studying the mechanisms underlying drug resistance. At multiple sentinel sites of the global ICEMR network, research activities include clinical studies to track the efficacies of antimalarial drugs, ex vivo/in vitro assays to measure drug susceptibilities of parasite isolates, and characterization of resistance-mediating parasite polymorphisms. Taken together, these efforts offer an increasingly comprehensive assessment of the efficacies of antimalarial therapies, and enable us to predict the emergence of drug resistance and to guide local antimalarial drug policies. Here we briefly review worldwide antimalarial drug resistance concerns, summarize research activities of the ICEMRs related to drug resistance, and assess the global impacts of the ICEMR programs.

Whim Syndrome Caused By a 5 Base Pair Deletion in the C-Terminus of Chemokine Receptor CXCR4

Doctors from more than a third of accident and emergency departments in hospitals in England said they were not reaching the government's target of dealing with patients within four hours.The...

In this Commentary, we highlight the latest findings in three active areas of malaria research: Plasmodium biology; host response; and malaria control, prevention and treatment.

ATEMPTing to navigate between “lower is better” and “less is more”

Delay in the Effect of Restricting Community Mobility on the Spread of COVID-19 in the United States

Neutralizing Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants Induced by Natural Infection or Vaccination: A Systematic Review and Individual Data Meta-Analysis

Jordi Casals-Ariet

Credit: NIAMS Steve Katz’s selection to be director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) in 1995 generated some...

Characteristics of Ophthalmology Trials Registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, 2007-2018

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been at the forefront of advances in biomedical research for over a century. It comprises 27 institutes and centers, including the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), each with its own specific research agenda and priorities. Collectively, NIH funding has contributed to many scientific and technological breakthroughs that have resulted in substantial gains in population health and longevity, both in the United States and globally. Moreover, there are numerous examples of investments in NIH research that yielded returns extending well beyond health benefits to encompass social and economic ramifications. For instance, it has been estimated that the $3.8 billion NIH contribution to the Human Genome Project generated $1 trillion in economic growth, corresponding to a 178-fold return on initial investment.1 Article see p 2028 Nevertheless, the present challenging economic landscape has compromised the NIH’s capacity to maintain its long-established role as the largest funding agency for medical research in the world. The NIH budget grew steadily in the 1990s, peaked at $35.6 billion in 2004, and then declined by ≈2% per year in real terms thereafter (Figure). In contrast, the proportion of medical research funded by industry in the United States increased from 46% in 1994 to 58% in 2012.2 From an international perspective, the annual compound growth rate in medical research from 2004 to 2011 was slowest in the United States (1%) in comparison with, for example, 16.9% in China, 9.3% in Australia, 6.8% in Japan, 4.5% in Canada, 4.1% in Europe, and 3.5% globally.2 Other metrics, such as patent statistics and new drugs and devices, likewise suggest that the United States is at risk of relinquishing its global leadership in health research if current trends are not reversed.3 Figure. Trends in National Institutes of Health Funding, …

The statement of task for the committee is: A committee will advise the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare and Quality Research (AHRQ) on issues regarding research personnel needs as they relate to the administration of the National Research Service Awards (NRSA) program. The committee will gather and analyze information on employment and education trends of research scientists in the broad fields of the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical sciences, and in the subfields of oral health, nursing, and health services research. The analysis will take into consideration the demographic changes in the United States, changes in disease pattern, and changes in scientific opportunity. The committee will deal broadly with the training needs and direction of the NRSA program as they relate to relevant federal research training policies, the impact of changes in the level of support for research and training, and the emergence of cross-disciplinary research areas. The analysis will include an estimate of the future supply of researchers from the current and future population of graduate students and postdoctorates, and the committee will make recommendations on the overall production rate of research personnel in the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical sciences for the period 2010 to 2015 as it relates to the NRSA program. Separate consideration will be given to training with respect to NIH dual-degree and career development programs, and NIH programs that are designed to address diversity in the research workforce.Reflecting the broad fields identified in the statement of task, the committee divided the research enterprise into three major areas: basic biomedical, behavioral and social sciences, and clinical research. These areas are discussed in detail in individual chapters in this report. Additional chapters are devoted to dentistry, nursing, and health services research, even though these can be thought of as subfields of the major areas. An additional chapter addresses training issues that cut across the above fields. Recommendations are found in the individual chapters and are referenced here by number following the recommendation.

Spectroscopic techniques have emerged as crucial tools in the field of malaria research, offering immense potential for improved diagnosis and enhanced understanding of the disease. This review article pays tribute to the pioneering contributions of Professor Henry Mantsch in the realm of clinical biospectroscopy, by comprehensively exploring the diverse applications of spectroscopic methods in malaria research. From the identification of reliable biomarkers to the development of innovative diagnostic approaches, spectroscopic techniques spanning the ultraviolet to far-infrared regions have played a pivotal role in advancing our knowledge of malaria. This review will highlight the multifaceted ways in which spectroscopy has contributed to the field, with a particular emphasis on its impact on diagnostic advancements and drug research. By leveraging the minimally invasive and highly accurate nature of spectroscopic techniques, researchers have made significant strides in improving the detection and monitoring of malaria parasites. These advancements hold the promise of enhancing patient outcomes and aiding in the global efforts towards the eradication of this devastating disease.