Our team's new approach to epidemiological testing using Plasmodium 18S rRNA on home-collected, pooled dried blood spots has been accepted for publication in the Malaria Journal. The study by first author Dr. Dianna Hergott is entitled "Feasibility of community at-home dried blood spot collection combined with pooled reverse transcription PCR as a viable and convenient method for malaria epidemiology studies". This approach provides a powerful and cost-effective strategy for assessing Plasmodium infection dynamics and monitoring elimination efforts in a variety of settings. Thanks to the study participants for their generous assistance studying malaria in this manner. Congratulations to Dr. Hergott, Tonny Owalla, Dr. Tom Egwang and the rest of the team members in the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and Epidemiology at the University of Washington, at Med Biotech Laboratories in Kampala, and at the study site in eastern Uganda. This is the first publication from this clinical study -- stay tuned for more important findings from this research program about the natural history of asymptomatic Plasmodium infections.
Congratulations to Felicia Watson and Caroline Duncombe for winning a 2022 Population Health Initiative Award / CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund grant for their efforts to develop a reliable, low-dose intradermal dosing device for sporozoite vaccines! Recent findings in our laboratory from Ms. Watson's research have led us to reconsider the best ways to approach intradermal administration and this award will support prototype development and proof-of-concept studies. Thanks also go out to our team's CoMotion Mentor Teddy Johnson and CoMotion Innovation Manager Frieda Chan for their expertise and generous support.
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April 2024
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