Next generation of malaria vaccines

Malaria kills 600K children & infects 240M people each year. Parasite resistance to frontline drugs and mosquito insecticide-resistance have thwarted all efforts to reduce this global scourge. Whilst the WHO licensed RTS,S in 2021, the first ever malaria vaccine, its efficacy is modest (40%) and immunity wanes rapidly. The world therefore still needs an efficacious long-lasting, malaria vaccine.

Sporozoites are the malaria parasite form that establishes human infection. As a natural Achilles’ heel (few are injected during a mosquito bite), sporozoites have been a longstanding target for vaccine design. In live-attenuated form they can confer complete protection showing that a vaccine is possible, although this strategy has translated poorly to field. Instead, the circumsporozoite protein, CSP – the most abundant sporozoite surface protein - has to date been the basis for most vaccine research, including RTS,S. Yet CSP bears all the hallmarks of being an immunological decoy, specifically evolved to initiate a suboptimal immune response, perhaps explaining RTS,S’s modest efficacy. Since uncharacterised non-CSP targets do exist, efforts are clearly needed to identify new immune-accessible candidates and fast track these into vaccines.

This HDR project centres on identifying new targets, whether B or T-cell, that as part of a next generation vaccine would elicit a long-lasting protective immune response. The project will be centred around molecular parasitology (working with the malaria parasite), designing vaccines and testing them in robust pre-clinical models - laying the foundations for formal testing in future clinical trials. 

The project would suit someone with a passion for infectious diseases and making a difference to global health. It will require developing advanced expertise in cellular and molecular parasitology (genetics, imaging and molecular biology), work with disease models and developing a keen understanding of immunology.

How to Apply

Express your interest in this project by emailing Professor Jake Baum. Include a copy of your CV and your academic transcript(s).