I’m pleased to share a recent publication in Malaria Journal which I co-authored with Dr John Connolly that assesses the potential for toxicity and allergenicity of Target Malaria’s gene drive mosquitoes.   Previously, the first stage of an environmental risk assessment called ‘problem formulation’ was conducted to identify potential harms to protection goals for the environment, and human and animal health, from simulated releases of our doublesex-based population suppression gene drive in Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) in West Africa. That analysis identified 46 plausible path ..read more

This week is World Quality Week. At Target Malaria, we are using this as an opportunity to showcase the role of quality assurance in our research. In this blog, Abbey Ssemaganda of Target Malaria Uganda and Diane Kama of Target Malaria Burkina Faso offer their reflections on their role and the importance of Quality Assurance.  Target Malaria Burkina Faso – Diane Kama  Target Malaria Burkina Faso’s quality management procedures aim to ensure the reliability of research results, and regulatory compliance with the laws and requirements of biosafety, environmental and ethical regulatory ..read more

Global malaria community calls for increased investment in development and scale-up of malaria innovations following R21 vaccine announcement- but RBM Partnership warns “it’s not the only solution”. RBM Partnership to End Malaria Today, a second vaccine to fight malaria was recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), paving the way for a significant expansion in the global supply of malaria vaccines and increasing the diverse range of tools available to fight malaria. The R21/Matrix-M vaccine was developed by the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford to protect children liv ..read more

Never before has health been so prominent at a United Nations General Assembly, with three high-level meetings focused on tuberculosis, universal health coverage (UHC), and pandemic prevention and preparedness. The first high-level meeting on health at the UN General Assembly in 2001 was centered on HIV/AIDS.  Friends of the Global Fund Europe approached this sequence from the perspective of the interconnection between these three global health challenges. From our point of view, the fight against tuberculosis plays a crucial role in pandemic prevention and preparedness which should not b ..read more

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 2023 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting in Dakar, Senegal. This year’s event was a special one, as it marked the 20th anniversary of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s flagship R&D grantmaking program, created in 2003 to encourage researchers to “think ambitiously about solving global health crises”. As part of the meeting, I took part in the panel discussion “Harnessing the Power of Science Against Malaria” moderated by freelance journalist Raïssa Okoï, alongside Principal Investigator Dr. Ify Aniebo from the African Centre ..read more

As an Agency, our tagline is ‘We Tell Your Story’. What we have come to discover is that not all stories are the same. The Target Malaria story is a different story. A different story because the work of Target Malaria and the solutions they seek to proffer have the potential to impact millions of children across Africa. What is also unique about this story is that it also looks at how the ‘target’ cannot only be about the mosquito, but an entire ecosystem.   And so, when Target Malaria contacted my agency, Lema Concepts, in Ghana, to tell this important story, we were nervous, the e ..read more

From the 17th to the 21st of September, the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA) held its annual conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the theme: ‘Reorienting Surveillance and Management in the Context of Emerging Threats of Disease Vectors’.   The conference brought together vector control professionals from all over Africa and the world. It highlighted the importance of collaboration and innovation on the pan-African level to bring an end to vector-borne diseases. Target Malaria was in attendance with team members based in  Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda and the ..read more

Global malaria community calls for increased investment in development and scale-up of malaria innovations following R21 vaccine announcement- but RBM Partnership warns “it’s not the only solution”. RBM Partnership to End Malaria Today, a second vaccine to fight malaria was recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), paving the way for a significant expansion in the global supply of malaria vaccines and increasing the diverse range of tools available to fight malaria. The R21/Matrix-M vaccine was developed by the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford to protect children liv ..read more

We are pleased to announce that “Swarm” the gene drive sonification made in collaboration with Jamie Perera has won Bronze in the Disruptive Communications category of the Digital Communications Awards 2023. You can read the blog my Jamie and listen to the sonification here. Digital Communications Awards 2023 Bronze Winner The post Digital Communications Awards Bronze Winner appeared first on Target Malaria ..read more

What do you do with Target Malaria, and what do you enjoy about your work?  I’m a Ph.D. student with Target Malaria Uganda at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). My work involves using mathematical models and simulations to test the effectiveness of novel malaria vector control tools before implementation. I’m fascinated by different aspects of malaria mosquito biology, especially those aspects that are responsible for how different mosquito species rebound at the start of every wet season and how they survive throughout the dry seasons.  What motivated you to enter this line ..read more