Ousmane SY

University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar    

Postdoctoral

Projet title: Updating the malaria entomological profile in an area of low transmission in central-western Senegal    

I am a medical entomologist. I completed my PhD in 2015. In addition, I have a certificate of medical parasitology completed in 2008. I have working in various research projects in Senegal: from 2008 to 2012, in a seasonal malaria chemoprevention pilot project leaded the department of parasitology of Dakar University and the LSHTM. From 2013 to 2015, I worked as entomologist in malaria elimination project in central Senegal. My objective in my postdoctoral fellowship in MARCAD is to understanding the genetic structure of An. gambiae complex, exclusively An. melas (secondary vector) and their susceptibility to insecticide and their role on the persistence of residual transmission in the Central-western Senegal. This area is one of the Senegalese candidates where malaria can be potentially eliminated. It’s important to have information on the level and directionality of gene flow across the range of An. melas as it can help us to predict the spread of insecticide resistance and inform better control of this malaria vector.

PUBLICATION : 
Entomological impact of indoor residual spraying with pirimiphos‑methyl: a pilot study in an area of low malaria transmission in Senegal

Aminata Colle LO

University Cheikh Anta DIOP    

Post-doc     

Project title: Malaria transmission in Senegal: Host and Parasite interaction
    
Dr. Aminata Colle LO obtained a Master’s degree with honors in Biology in Parasitology Department of the Faculty of Medicine of UCAD. She participated on several projects (IPT-c, IPT-i, Randomized trial, Clinical Trial, WHO-TDR-FIND-Parasitology project, etc.) in areas of Senegal.
With a scholarship from a Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) project funded by Bill and Melinda GATES, she pursued postgraduate study at the University and did her lab work at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in UK and graduate with a doctorate degree in 2013. Her research work involved studying the molecular markers and immunity development during SMC in Senegal.
From April 2015 to March 2017, Dr LO led a project on malaria transmission in GHANA on behalf on the postdoctoral fellowship program funded by Bill and Melinda GATES at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Ghana.
Currently, within the MARCAD program, she is awarded a second postdoctoral fellowship allowing her to maintain the same objectives as working on malaria elimination in SENEGAL. Her objective is to understand how gametocytes are rendered infectious as well as understand the dynamics of the development of transmission blocking antibodies which are developed against these gametocytes and better understand how these works together to cause malaria transmission

PUBLICATION : 
Plasmodium and intestinal parasite perturbations of the infected host’s inflammatory responses: a systematic review

PoSTER : 
Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum transmission immunity in two different endemic areas in Senegal

Innocent MBULLI ALI

University of Yaounde 1    

Post-doc     

Project title: Application of a modified P. falciparum molecular barcode to track parasite genetic diversity and drug resistance markers in seasonal malaria chemoprevention settings in Central and West Africa.     

Innocent graduated recently with a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon. Based at the Biotechnology Centre, he carries out research on malaria molecular epidemiology and host response in pathogen infections. For more than six years, he characterised clinical sites for malaria drug trials, coordinated a WHO/TDR capacity building investigator-initiated drug trial in Cameroon. His postdoc fellowship within MARCAD will develop a DNA barcode assay to simultaneously detect and track parasite drug resistance molecular markers as well as the population level transmission effects of amodiaquine-sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine in the context of seasonal malaria chemoprevention in the Central and West Africa. The new tool may further drive the elimination of malaria in the Sahel. Prior to MARCAD, he lectured at the University of Dschang, Cameroon. He intends to stay in Cameroon, and in the long-run build his own malaria research team, continue teaching and modeling knowledge translation for disease elimination.

Dr. Akindeh M. Nji

Biotechnology Center/FMSB, University of Yaoundé I Cameroon.

Post-Doc

Project title: Modelling Optimal Configurations of Interventions for Cost-Effective Malaria Elimination in Cameroon.

Dr. Akindeh holds a Master of Science in Applied Statistics from Centrum University Limburg (today
The University of Hasselt), Diepenbeek, Belgium and a PhD in International Health-Medical Research from Ludwig University Maximilian, Munich, Germany. He is a senior lecturer of biostatistics in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. As Head of the Clinical and Laboratory Data Management Unit at the Biotechnology center of the University of Yaoundé I, Akindeh has played a major role in the design and running of Four clinical trials on anti-malarial drugs. He has been a consultant Clinical data monitor for WHO sponsored clinical trial entitled "Fixed-dose combination therapy of four pulmonary tuberculosis drugs" with sites Ethiopia and Nigeria. His expertise in study design, experimental studies, including KAP studies, research methodology gave him the opportunity to sit on two ethics Committees in Cameroon. He is a member of the Society of Epidemiology Cameroon (CaSE) and the network of Modelers in Tropical Diseases (TDMOD). Akindeh is the author/co-author of more than 10 peered reviewed articles. MARCAD Fellowship gives me an opportunity to pursue a career niche in disease modelling and to oil the wheel towards my overall goal of playing a frontline role in disease control.