Mechanism of action of some novel anti-malarial compounds
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Summary
We have been investigating the anti-malarial activities of 3 types of molecules and now need to determine the way that they act.
Supervisor(s)
Research Location
Camperdown - School of Medical Sciences - Bosch Institute
Program Type
Masters/PHD
Synopsis
There are over 500 million malaria infections every year worldwide and these result in between 1 and 3 million deaths annually. Most victims are young children in Africa, pregnant women or visitors to malaria-endemic regions of the world. As well as causing great morbidity and mortality, malaria also adversely affects the economic and social fabric of those countries where it is a problem. Around 40% of the world's population live in areas where malaria is endemic. Malaria parasites have become resistant to a number of formerly effective anti-malarial drugs. There is great concern that this resistance may in future extend to the remaining active agents. It therefore is necessary to keep developing new agents that possess anti-malarial activity. We have been working on two such classes of compounds and have preliminary information about their mechanisms of actions that now needs to be examined more precisely.
Additional Information
Approaches: Growing malaria parasites in vitro, biochemistry, molecular biology. Techniques: cell culture, microscopy, gene expression analysis. Other Information: Nick Hunt’s laboratory is in the newly-refurbished Medical Foundation Building. The equipment and other facilities in the building are first class, as are the other research groups located there. His research group contains 3 postdoctoral fellows, 2 PhD students and a part-time technician. The laboratory is well-funded by two National Health and Medical Research Council, one Australian Research Council, and one Sir Zelman Cowen Foundation grant in 2009. Scholarships: Laboratory-funded scholarships may be available for suitably-qualified candidates.
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Keywords
malaria, anti-malarials, chemotherapy, Plasmodium falciparum, Therapeutics & adverse drug effects, Infectious diseases, Infection & immunity, Pharmacology & therapeutics
Opportunity ID
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 112
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