A novel strategy for understanding the functional impact of variation in Plasmodium falciparum merozoite vaccine candidates

Isabella is a molecular biologist with an interest in the malaria parasite’s invasion of red blood cells. She works at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme and is a visiting lecturer at the Centre for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, University of Nairobi. Her Fellowship focuses on understanding the impact of genetic variation in the proteins involved in enabling the malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) via its blood stage (the merozoite) to invade red blood cells. The research uses a combination of molecular epidemiology, immunoepidemiology, cell biology and experimental genetic tools. The project will be carried out in collaboration with Dr Julian Rayner at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

This grant was awarded under the scheme's previous name of Intermediate Fellowships in Public Health and Tropical Medicine.