Home » New generation drugs against Plasmodium falciparum transmission for malaria eradication (Italy – South Africa MAECI-PGR05924)
New generation drugs against Plasmodium falciparum transmission for malaria eradication (Italy – South Africa MAECI-PGR05924)
Date:
16 January 2023
Thematic area
Health
Project type
Research
Education
Country
South Africa
Duration
2020 – 2022
Partners
Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Dr Pietro Alano, Italian PI)
Prof Lyn Marie Birkholtz, University of Pretoria, Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control, Pretoria South Africa
Dr Dalu Mancama, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-CSIR, Pretoria, SA
Scientific supervisor
Marina Marinovich
Founded by
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affair and International Cooperation
Snapshot of project
Objectives
Beneficiaries
Identify new classes of drugs to block the transmission of the malaria parasite P. falciparum (Pf) from humans to mosquitoes. These drugs, directed against the sexual, non-proliferating, gametocyte stage, address the need to accelerate the eradication of malaria worldwide, by eliminating P. falciparum transmission from asymptomatic individuals, the major parasite reservoir in a future when further reduction of malaria morbidity will occur.
To conduct in vitro studies on novel transmission-blocking drugs to determine antiparasitic activity and to define the host/parasite selectivity index of selected hits. To investigate the biological/biochemical parasite pathways to address the mechanism of action and target identification of the most promising gametocyte-selective hits. To conduct a preliminary investigation on the potential use of new hits with known anti-asexual drugs to identify synergistic or antagonistic drug-drug interactions.