Improving the treatment of tropical infectious diseases

Great strides were made to control of malaria between 2000 and 2015, enabled by effective drugs (artemisinin combination treatments) and insecticides (particularly insecticide impregnated mosquito nets). But recently malaria has increased again world-wide and drug resistance in the main malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, has worsened considerably in the Greater Mekong sub-region. This is alarming because this region is historically the origin of drug resistance affecting all of Asia and Africa. I have conducted a series of studies to develop methods of assessing and countering this threat, and improving the treatment of vivax malaria, which I propose to complete over the next three years. These should result in new strategies and better treatments for malaria. I will apply the lessons learned from developing new methods of assessing drugs in malaria to the neglected tropical infection Chagas disease, and also to COVID-19 where we desperately need effective drugs.