The decline in the malaria burden in Africa has stalled in recent years. Any further progress will be exacerbated by the significant threats to malaria diagnosis and treatment. There are two gene deletions in the Plasmodium falciparum genome that make the parasite invisible to detection the common rapid diagnostic tests (RDT). In addition, the emergence and spread of mutations in the kelch 13 gene result in the resistance to the major frontline antimalarial, artemisinin. The presentation will cover the status in Africa and what efforts we are making to generate the evidence and establish an early warning surveillance platform.

Isabella Oyier is the Head of the Biosciences Department at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) and is an Associate Professor at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine. She is also a Calestous Juma Fellow, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and a Global Research Fellow at Reuben College, University of Oxford. Her research focuses on integrating malaria molecular epidemiology into routine surveillance in Kenya, partnering with the National Malaria Programme. She played a key role during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading testing efforts in Kenya’s Coastal region, and now oversees COVID-19 genomic and immunological surveillance for Africa CDC, WHO-Afro, and the East African region.

The seminar will take place from 12:00 to 13:00 in the IDRM seminar room.