Program for Resistance, Immunology, Surveillance & Modeling of Malaria in Uganda

描述(申请人提供)：疟疾仍然是最重要的全球卫生挑战之一，估计有30亿人面临感染风险，每年导致约2.5亿病例和100万人死亡。到目前为止，疟疾的最大负担仍然在非洲的中心地带，其特点是大片连续的高传播率地区，已证实的控制干预措施覆盖率低，监测疟疾负担趋势和衡量干预措施影响的基础设施有限。该计划的总体目的是在乌干达建立一个国际疟疾研究英才中心，并开展全面的监测研究，以提高对该疾病的了解，并衡量人口层面控制干预措施的影响。乌干达为这项计划提供了理想的环境，那里的疟疾覆盖了广泛的流行病学环境。研究将在六个哨点进行，从传播强度相对较低的地区到世界上有记录的一些传播强度最高的地区。我们的全面监测方法将汇集来自多个学科的专业知识，以收集多个层面的数据，反映蚊媒、疟疾寄生虫和人类宿主之间相互作用的复杂性质。该计划将由4个研究项目组成，以综合的方式连接在一起，以最大限度地实现科学发现。研究项目1将比较不同的疟疾监测方法，并衡量控制干预措施的影响和成本效益。研究项目2将使用建模方法来评估不同传播环境下疟疾控制干预措施的最佳组合。研究项目3将调查免疫学分析在估计传播强度和预测疾病风险方面的作用。研究项目4将确定抗疟疾药物和杀虫剂抗药性的标记，并调查这些标记作为疟疾监测工具的作用。除上述研究活动外，该计划还将重点放在当地培训和能力建设、技术转让以及在研究人员和政策制定者之间建立牢固的关系上。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Malaria remains one of the most important global health challenges, with an estimated 3 billion people at risk of infection, leading to approximately 250 million cases and 1 million deaths each year. The greatest burden of malaria, by far, remains in the heartland of Africa, characterized by large contiguous areas of high transmission, low coverage of proven control interventions, and limited Infrastructure to monitor trends in malaria burden and measure the impact of interventions. The overall purpose of this program will be to establish an International Center of Excellence In Malaria Research in Uganda and perform comprehensive surveillance studies aimed to improve understanding of the disease and measure the impact of population-level control interventions. Uganda provides an ideal environment for this program, where malaria covers a wide range of epidemiological settings. Studies will be conducted in six sentinel sites, ranging from areas of relatively low transmission intensity to areas with some of the highest transmission intensities recorded in the world. Our comprehensive approach to surveillance will bring together expertise from multiple disciplines to collect data across multiple levels, reflecting the complex nature of interactions between the mosquito vector, malaria parasite and human host. The program will consist of 4 research projects linked together in an integrated manner to maximize scientific discovery. Research project 1 will compare different malaria surveillance methodologies and measure the impact and cost-effectiveness of control interventions. Research project 2 will use a modeling approach to evaluate the optimal suites of malaria control interventions in different transmission settings. Research project 3 will investigate the role of immunological assays for estimating transmission intensity and predicting disease risk. Research project 4 will identify markers of antimalarial drug and insecticide resistance and investigate the role of these markers as malaria surveillance tools. In addition to the research activities described, this program will place a strong emphasis on local training and capacity building, the transfer of technology, and building strong relationships between researchers and policy makers.