Cryo-preservation of human erythrocytes as a new strategy to mitigate donor variability and oscillations in mosquito infectivity during Controlled Human Malaria Infection (CHMI) trials via mosquito bite challenge

Objectives

The proposed research aims to create a cryopreserved repository of human erythrocytes (hRBCs) using FDA-regulated blood products, to support the manufacturing of Plasmodium falciparum-infected mosquitoes for Controlled Human Malaria Infection (CHMI) trials. This project will characterize the hRBCs using multi-omics to explore donor variability effects on parasite cultivation and mosquito infection, providing critical materials for malaria clinical trials.