Partner study description

Led by Patrick Duffy, the Mother Offspring Malaria Study (MOMS) aims to understand the relationship between parasite phenotype and clinical outcomes, and to identify parasite ligands and soluble mediators involved in malaria infections during early life. Longitudinal and cross-sectional cohorts were recruited at Muheza Designated District Hospital and Morogoro Regional Hospital. Pregnant women, children and infants were recruited, and children were followed at regular intervals to capture parasite samples and clinical phenotypes from birth up to the age of 5 years. MOMS clinical activities have been completed, but sample and data analyses continue. Samples sequenced through the MalariaGEN P. falciparum Community Project are being analysed to understand the local diversity and population structure of malaria parasites from Tanzanian mothers and children. Subsets of sequenced samples have also been assayed by RNA-seq and microarray platforms, and these data provide an additional dimension of information for ongoing expression studies in the Duffy group.

Publications

• Genomic epidemiology of artemisinin resistant malaria
  MalariaGEN P. falciparum Community Project
  eLife, 2016; 5 e08714
  10.7554/eLife.08714