Impacts of Environment, Host Genetics and Antigen Diversity on Malaria Vaccine Efficacy
Summary
Falciparum malaria remains a major global public health problem but global malaria elimination has little chance of success in the absence of an effective vaccine. Since vaccines do not work equally well in all settings, this project will study the interactions between the leading malaria vaccine (RTS,S) and environmental factors, host genetics, parasite antigenic diversity, and other malaria control measures. This multi-site study in Africa is the first major attempt at understanding the impact of spatial ecology on malaria vaccine efficacy and the first integration of molecular data into an ecological vaccine trial analysis.