Key research areas and achievements of the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme
The Programme's laboratories in Blantyre were opened on 22 January 1999 and since then it has been investigating health problems of local, regional and global significance such as malaria, HIV/AIDs, anaemia, tuberculosis and other bacterial and viral infections.
Key research areas
Research at the Malawi Programme is arranged around five themes:
- Severe Malaria looks at cerebral malaria and malaria-associated anaemia
- Therapeutics in the Tropics focuses on the pharmacology of drugs used against diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis
- Severe Bacterial Infection looks at bacteraemia, pneumonia and meningitis
- Mucosal and Vaccine Immunity covers immune responses to pathogens that infect via the body's mucous membranes, and the influence of HIV on immune responses
- Health in the Population deals with the translation of laboratory and hospital based research to a community setting.
Malaria researchers from the Programme are investigating the diversity of parasites, as well as studying mosquito breeding sites and the development of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes. They are also working to improve the treatment and prevention of malaria in pregnant women.
Meanwhile, researchers are studying risk factors for HIV and the feasibility of an HIV vaccine, and the influence of factors such as hygiene on the development of immunity during infancy.
Other research is looking at the influence of common infections on vaccine immune responses, and at antibiotic resistance, diarrhoeal disease and the prevalence of anaemia in children under the age of five.
Key achievements
The Programme has helped to advance malaria treatment and monitoring, notably through the development of the Blantyre Coma Score, a system that helps to monitor children in malaria-induced coma. Other research has shown that severe malaria causes distinct changes to the retina (a finding that will improve diagnosis in comatose children), trialled antimalarial therapies at different sites around the country, and described the detailed pathogenesis of cerebral malaria, using a unique collection of post-mortem brain material.
Outside of malaria, the Programme has collected a wealth of clinical and microbiological data on severe bacterial infection, and its scientists have trialled a vaccine against invasive pneumococcal disease in adults. The researchers have demonstrated the high prevalence of non-typhi Salmonella bacteraemia in Malawi; this is associated with anaemia and malaria in infants and young children, and HIV in adults. They have also helped to establish sentinel sites for invasive bacterial infections.
Working closely with the Malawian Government, the Programme contributes to national guidelines for the diagnosis and management of a range of diseases, including pneumonia and tuberculosis.
