Normal Immunological Parameters Among Healthy Volunteers in Kambila, Mali

Objectives

This study will determine the immune response to malaria infection in healthy volunteers compared with malaria patients.

1) Obtain high quality clinical data and biospecimens from ongoing longitudinal cohort studies in Mali in which exposure to P. falciparum infection and protection against malaria are reliably assessed, 2) determine the antigen specificity, function, kinetics and cellular basis of the antibody response to P. falciparum, 3) define the mechanisms by which P. falciparum-induced inflammation is regulated, 4) identify a molecular signature of immunity to malaria through systems biology approaches, and 5) determine the relationship between persistent asymptomatic P. falciparum infection and malaria risk, and elucidate the host and parasite factors that underlie this phenomenon.