Alexis Nzila, a past Wellcome Trust Fellow and now based at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya, has been awarded a prestigious Royal Society prize for advancing discoveries into new treatments for malaria.

Dr Nzila was given the Royal Society Pfizer Award for his research into the link between cancer and malaria and his contribution to the development of possible new treatments for malaria.

Both cancer cells and the malaria parasite rely on the availability of vitamins called folates to multiply. By comparing the role of these vitamins in the two diseases, Dr Nzila was able to understand how they aid resistance to a popular malaria drug, Fansidar.

Dr Nzila's team found that resistance to Fansidar was a result of the parasite's ability to change amino acids in the enzymes that this drug targets. By monitoring changes in the enzyme genes, the researchers found they could predict whether a parasite would be sensitive or resistant to Fansidar.

Partly due to the evidence of this research, the Kenyan ministry of health withdrew Fansidar as the first line of treatment for malaria. Dr Nzila has since found a new way of treating the disease by using a non-toxic compound called probenecid that can be used in combination with Fansidar to reverse the parasite's ability to resist drug treatment. The drug has been successfully trialled in Nigeria.

The Royal Society award will allow Dr Nzila to further research into the use of low and non-toxic antifolate anti-cancer drugs, such as methotrexate, in combination with folate molecules to treat malaria.

See also

• KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme