Malaria Drug Resistance and Chemotherapy

Summary

Research conducted within the Malaria Drug Resistance and Chemotherapy Laboratory is focused on obtaining a better understanding of the mechanisms and factors influencing the development, survival and spread of drug resistance in malaria parasites, and investigates ways to improve the diagnosis and treatment of malaria. We also conduct research on the surveillance and dynamics of other mosquito-borne diseases including dengue and Ross River virus. The laboratory's research is multi-disciplinary, integrating traditional laboratory science with mathematical modelling and statistics, working in close collaboration with the Australian Army Malaria Institute at Enoggera.

Conditions researched

• Malaria
• Ross River fever
• Dengue fever

Current research

• Parasite resistance to artemisinin drugs
• Accuracy of malaria rapid diagnostic tests
• Mechanisms of resistance to standard and newly developed antimalarial drugs
• Assessing the impact of malaria interventions and control strategies
• Plasmodium vivax genetics influencing relapse patterns

Staff

Laboratory Head: Dr Michelle Gatton

Deputy Laboratory Head: Dr Qin Cheng

Research Officer: Dr Douglas Kerlin, Dr Chris Peatey

Research Assistants: Ms Karryn Gresty, Ms Anita Pelecanos

Visiting scientists: Dr Marina Chavchich, Professor Dennis Shanks

Funding

We acknowledge the support of the following funding agencies:

• National Institutes of Health, USA
• AusAid through WHO/WPRO
• AusAid through Pacific Malaria Initiative Support Centre (PAcMISC), The University of Queensland
• Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND)
• NHMRC
• Research and Policy for Infectious Disease Dynamics (RAPIDD) Program, US Department of Homeland Security and the Fogarty International Centre
• Global Emerging Infectious Diseases (GIIS), US Department of Defense

Collaborators

Australian

Professor James McCarthy, Associate Professors Don Gardiner, Katharine Trenholme, Peter O’Rourke and Professor Brian Kay at QIMR

Drs Ric Price and Nick Anstey, Tropical Medicine and International Health Unit, Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin

Dr Bob Cooper, Dr Mike Edstein, and Professor Dennis Shanks, Australian Army Malaria Institute

Dr Archie Clements, School of Population Health, The University of Queensland

Pacific Malaria Initiative Supporting Centre (PacMISC), The University of Queensland

International

Professors Dennis Kyle and John Adams, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

Drs Mike O'Neil and Chris Ockenhouse, Division of Experimental Therapeutics, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, USA

Dr Norm Waters, West Point Military Academy, New York, USA

Drs David Bell, Jane Cunningham, WHO/GMP and WHO/TDR and Dr Mark Perkins: The Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests Quality Assurance program and network (includes approximately 15 laboratories worldwide)

Dr Heidi Hopkins, FIND

Professor Steve Lindsay, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, UK

Asia-Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN)

WHO/TDR