Antigens for a Vaccine that Prevents Severe Malaria

Abstract : Malaria is the primary infectious disease threat facing the U.S. solider, and is the leading cause of all casualties during tropical deployments. The long-term objective of this project is to identify and prepare the malaria parasite forms causing severe anemia, and then apply functional genomics and bioinformatics tools to identify 15 to 30 proteins that could form the basis for an effective vaccine at both the pre-erythrocytic and blood stages of malaria infection. The project will then evaluate these lead candidates for their recognition by sera collected from immune individuals, in order to identify the leading 3 to 5 candidates for a blood stage vaccine that prevents severe malarial anemia.