HAMMS project: Malaria molecular surveillance in the Horn of Africa

Objectives

To establish a university-malaria program network for surveillance of converging biological threats in the Horn of Africa and demonstrate a model for real-time and granular molecular surveillance to inform policy by identifying locally informative genetic targets and adopting and customizing a highly sensitive, targeted, and multiplexed Plasmodium and Anopheles genotyping toolkit.

Specific objectives:

1. Develop and optimize university-based regional coordination, capacity building, and targeted evidence generation and response system.
2. Track the flow of malaria parasites/mosquitoes and drug/diagnostic/insecticide resistance within and around Ethiopia.
3. Adopt multiplexed microhaplotype based NGS protocol at AHRI.
4. Understand the paradox of pfhrp2/3 gene deletion and pfkelch13 R622I co-evolution.
5. Pilot cross-border collaboration with Sudan and Djibouti.
6. Customize the multiplexed NGS panel with locally informative genetic targets that include regions of selection to study malaria transmission dynamics in Ethiopia in the era of co-emerging biological threats.