Objective
The rise and spread of drug resistant malaria parasites is one of the major challenges for malaria control and may soon proof to be one of the biggest obstacles to malaria eradication. Due to extensive geographical overlap of HIV and malaria, the two most serious health problems in the world, co-infections are common in nature. These co-infections may increase the emergence and spread of malaria drug resistance, as a result of intervention strategies and weaker immune systems. However, evidence for this is lacking and discussion is speculative of nature. Using an evolutionary framework, I aim to unravel (1) the link between HIV infection and frequency of malaria drug resistance and (2) the selective forces that drive this resistance to higher levels in HIV co-infected individuals.
I will start with a meta-analysis of published studies to determine whether a correlation between prevalence of resistance and prevalence of HIV infection can be seen. In addition, using clinical samples of HIV-positive and HIV-negative pregnant women from five different countries in Sub-Saharan Africa who are currently enrolled in a clinical trial with the aim to test the efficacy of Intermittent Preventative Therapy, I will (i) assess the frequency of resistance markers by direct sequencing, (ii) study the multiplicity of malaria infection using genetic barcoding and (iii) determine the densities of the transmission stages using stage-specific qPCR. I will evaluate these metrics at the start of the intervention, at time of delivery and, from a subset of women in an ancillary study, during the course of pregnancy.
This fellowship merges my expertise in evolutionary biology of infectious diseases with the host’s expertise in clinical malaria in pregnant women. This project has the potential to have a big impact on public health policy, increase our understanding of malaria parasite dynamics in as-of-yet much understudied pregnant women, and contribute critically to malaria eradication.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases malaria
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases RNA viruses HIV
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
08036 Barcelona
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.