Malaria control in Southeast Asia faces a number of serious challenges that require coordinated and focused efforts. The uneven distribution of malaria incidences and limited resources call for the development of adaptable and cost-effective control strategies. Knowledge gaps in malaria epidemiology, vector biology and parasite genetics hinder the development of effective control measures. Emerging resistance of parasites to artemisinins and circulation of counterfeit/substandard artemisinin drugs that threaten regional and global malaria control campaigns demand close monitoring, and development of adequate countermeasures. To address these challenges, we establish a malaria research center program with the support by the National Institutes of Health, USA.

The overall objective of the center program is to improve the understanding of malaria epidemiology, vector systems and their roles in malaria transmission, and the mechanisms of drug resistance in parasites so that more effective, integrated malaria control can be achieved through a combination of accurate surveillance of the disease, integrated vector control, and more effective chemotherapy in Southeast Asia.

This project includes three target countries: China, Myanmar and Thailand.

This program includes four sub-projects:

Sub-project 1: "Malaria epidemiology in Southeast Asia: intra- and inter-country dynamics"
Project 1 will develop an accurate measurement of heterogeneity of the disease burden, and provide essential epidemiological information for developing and evaluating integrated malaria control strategies in multiple sites with varying epidemiological conditions.

Sub-project 2: "The malaria vectorial system and new vector control tools in Southeast Asia"
Project 2 aims to understand the ecology of malaria vectors in this region and develop innovative malaria transmission surveillance and control tools.

Sub-project 3: "Antimalarial drug resistance in P. falciparum"
Project 3 aims to elucidate the mechanism of artemisinin resistance using a high-throughput, genome-wide analytic tool and parasite populations from areas where artemisinin resistance is emerging.

Sub-project 4: "Development of monoclonal antibody-based assays for detection and quantification of artemisinin derivatives"
Project 4 will develop antibody-based methods for quantification of artemisinins under field conditions for monitoring drug quality.