Malaria
Up to one million people die each year from malaria and its complications. The major burden falls on young children and pregnant women, leading to problems for mothers and their babies including anaemia and low birth weight. The Nossal Institute's goal is to understand how pregnant women become susceptible to malaria and how this impairs the growth of the unborn child, thus enabling improved methods for prevention and treatment.
In basic research studies at the Department of Medicine at Royal Melbourne Hospital the Nossal Institute investigates how the malaria parasite, concealed in a red blood cell, is able to change its surface composition to avoid the host immune response; yet at the same time cause changes that may cause harm if the infected cells stick in cells lining blood vessels in deep tissues of brain, placenta or lung. Understanding these genes could lead to drugs or novel approaches to vaccines for malaria control.
In collaboration with colleagues in malaria-endemic countries such as Malawi (Africa) and Papua New Guinea the Nossal Institute investigates the mechanisms by which individuals living in malarious areas develop immunity. Assays that have been developed to measure antibodies thought to be important in protection are correlated with outcomes for mother and baby.