The Malaria Preclinical Vaccine Development Unit within the Malaria Research Program is at the forefront of cutting-edge research aimed at developing a broadly protective, sterilizing malaria vaccine that can accelerate the eradication of malaria.  The team seeks to identify new antigens and assess the potential of novel antigens and adjuvants to induce immune responses that can inhibit parasite function. We evaluate novel proteins and vaccines through rigorous preclinical studies, including liver stage development assays, growth inhibition assays, and standard membrane feeding assays, striving to design new vaccines and enhance their efficacy. Employing advanced laboratory techniques and innovative methodologies, we simulate malaria infection models and screen promising compounds for their potential to prevent infection and disease.   

The unit is led by Dr. Amed Ouattara, a trained molecular epidemiologist and the Director of the Molecular Epidemiology course at UMB. Dr. Ouattara’s collaborators include the University of South Florida (USF) for malaria liver assays, the University of California Irvine for mRNA design, and the NIH Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research for malaria asexual and sexual stages assays.