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Malaria research—Diversity and control: A Sweden–Japan joint seminar
Acta Tropica 114 (2010) 129–130
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Acta Tropica journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/actatropica
Foreword
Malaria research—Diversity and control: A Sweden–Japan joint seminar
Today thirty-nine countries across the world are making progress toward malaria elimination (Feachem and The Malaria Elimination Group, 2009). There is increased international focus and optimism. At the same time the history of malaria control tells us that we will need a continued effort if any gains achieved are to be maintained. Although about 80% of malaria mortality is in underfives in Sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of all morbidity occurs outside of Africa. A major hindrance to establishing effective control is malaria diversity, which has been area-specifically evolved and includes not only biomedical aspects of human, parasite and mosquito but also environmental and socio-economic issues. These diversities affect various important components of malaria control, such as disease severity, malaria chemotherapy, vector control, vaccine development and control strategy. The completion of the genome sequences of Homo sapiens, Anopheles gambiae and Plasmodium falciparum heralds a new era. In the revised paradigm of global malaria control how can these new insights benefit patients in endemic areas? This special issue of Acta Tropica is based on the presentations in Sweden–Japan joint seminar, “Malaria research—diversity and control”, held at Nobel Forum in Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 11 June 2008, with funding from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS); for list of contributors, see Appendix A. Sweden has a strong international recognition in malaria research with various disciplines from past experience in clinical epidemiology, immunology and chemotherapy particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Japanese partner has strong scientific background in population genetics and evolution of human, parasites and mosquitoes particularly in Asia and the South-western Pacific. The complementary scientific experience from Japan has clearly strengthened the competitiveness of malaria research in Sweden, and vice versa. The seminar covered a wide range of key topics in the global agenda of malaria research and control, including erythrocyte invasion (Culleton and Kaneko, in press; Persson, in press), antigenic variation (Diez et al., in press), cerebral malaria (Kawai and Sugiyama, in press), transmission blocking (Hirai and Mori, in press), malaria toxin (Arrighi and Faye, in press), drug resistance (Mita, in press), vaccine development (Tsuboi et al., in press), and malaria elimination (Kaneko, in press). In the last session the participants and audiences discussed the feasibility of global malaria elimination towards eradication with two program managers from endemic nations, George Taleo from Vanuatu and Willis Akhwale from Kenya. We hope that the synergistic interactions in this symposium will provide novel knowledge and strategies for the global malaria challenge in the 21st century.
0001-706X/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2010.02.002
Finally, we thank all the participants for their active contributions to the seminar and the JSPS Stockholm Office for their assistance and Pedro, Isabelle and Sabina for their help. This seminar is financially funded by JSPS, and also partially by Swedish Research Council, and the Global COE of Nagasaki University.
Appendix A. List of contributors [Sweden] Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet Dr. Kristina Persson, [email protected] Associate Professor Qijun Chen, [email protected] Professor Mats Wahlgren, [email protected] Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet Dr. Achuyt Bhattarai, [email protected] Dr. Pedro Gil, [email protected] Associate Professor Akira Kaneko, [email protected] Professor Anders Björkman, [email protected] Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet Associate Professor Per Úhlen, [email protected] Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology, Stockholm University Dr. Romanico Arrighi, [email protected] Professor Ingrid Faye, [email protected] [Kenya] Division of Malaria Control, Ministry of Health Head/Dr. Willis Akhwale, [email protected] [Vanuatu] Vector-borne Disease Control, Ministry of Health Manager/Mr. George Taleo, [email protected] [Japan] Department of Medical Zoology, Jichi Medical University Dr. Makoto Hirai, [email protected] Emeritus Professor Akira Ishii, [email protected] Center for Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Dokkyo Medical University Associate Professor Satoru Kawai, [email protected] Department of International Affairs and Tropical Medicine, Tokyo Women’s Medical University Lecturer/Dr. Toshihiro Mita, [email protected] Professor Takatoshi Kobayakawa, [email protected]
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Foreword / Acta Tropica 114 (2010) 129–130
Department of Medical Zoology, Faculty of Medicine, Mie University Emeritus Professor Yasuo Chinzei, [email protected] Cell-Free Science and Technology Research Center, Ehime University Professor Takafumi Tsuboi, [email protected] Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University Professor Osamu Kaneko, [email protected] President/Professor Kenji Hirayama, [email protected] Department of Mechanical Engineering and Science, Kyoto University Professor Susumu Goto, [email protected] Dr. Diego Diez, [email protected] References Arrighi, R.B., Faye, I., 2010. Plasmodium falciparum GPI toxin: a common foe for man and mosquito. Acta Trop. 114, 162–165. Culleton, R.L., Kaneko, O., 2010. Erythrocyte binding ligands in malaria parasites: intracellular trafficking and parasite virulence. Acta Trop. 114, 131–137. Diez, D., Hayes, N., Joannin, N., Normark, J., Kanehisa, M., Wahlgren, M., Wheelock, C.E., Goto, S., 2010. varDB: a database of antigenic variant sequences-current status and future prospects. Acta Trop. 114, 144–151. Feachem, R.G.A., The Malaria Elimination Group, 2009. Shrinking the malaria map: a guide on malaria elimination for policy makers. The Global Health Group, Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco. Hirai, M., Mori, T., 2010. Fertilization is a novel attacking site for the transmission blocking of malaria parasites. Acta Trop. 114, 157–161. Kaneko, A., 2010. A community-directed strategy for sustainable malaria elimination on islands: short-term MDA integrated with ITNs and robust surveillance. Acta Trop. 114, 177–183.
Kawai, S., Sugiyama, M., 2010. Imaging analysis of the brain in a primate model of cerebral malaria. Acta Trop. 114, 152–156. Mita, T., 2010. Origins and spread of dhfr mutant alleles in Plasmodium falciparum. Acta Trop. 114, 166–170. Persson, K.E.M., 2010. Erythrocyte invasion and functionally inhibitory antibodies in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Acta Trop. 114, 138–143. Tsuboi, T., Takeo, S., Arumugam, T.U., Otsuki, H., Torii, M., 2010. The wheat germ cellfree protein synthesis system: a key tool for novel malaria vaccine candidate discovery. Acta Trop. 114, 171–176.
Akira Kaneko ∗ Island Malaria Group, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Global COE, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan Department of Immunology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Mats Wahlgren Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ∗ Corresponding author at: Island Malaria Group, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Nobels väg 16, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel.: +46 8 524 86736. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Kaneko)
25 January 2010 Available online 6 February 2010
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Acta Tropica journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/actatropica
Foreword
Malaria research—Diversity and control: A Sweden–Japan joint seminar
Today thirty-nine countries across the world are making progress toward malaria elimination (Feachem and The Malaria Elimination Group, 2009). There is increased international focus and optimism. At the same time the history of malaria control tells us that we will need a continued effort if any gains achieved are to be maintained. Although about 80% of malaria mortality is in underfives in Sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of all morbidity occurs outside of Africa. A major hindrance to establishing effective control is malaria diversity, which has been area-specifically evolved and includes not only biomedical aspects of human, parasite and mosquito but also environmental and socio-economic issues. These diversities affect various important components of malaria control, such as disease severity, malaria chemotherapy, vector control, vaccine development and control strategy. The completion of the genome sequences of Homo sapiens, Anopheles gambiae and Plasmodium falciparum heralds a new era. In the revised paradigm of global malaria control how can these new insights benefit patients in endemic areas? This special issue of Acta Tropica is based on the presentations in Sweden–Japan joint seminar, “Malaria research—diversity and control”, held at Nobel Forum in Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 11 June 2008, with funding from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS); for list of contributors, see Appendix A. Sweden has a strong international recognition in malaria research with various disciplines from past experience in clinical epidemiology, immunology and chemotherapy particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Japanese partner has strong scientific background in population genetics and evolution of human, parasites and mosquitoes particularly in Asia and the South-western Pacific. The complementary scientific experience from Japan has clearly strengthened the competitiveness of malaria research in Sweden, and vice versa. The seminar covered a wide range of key topics in the global agenda of malaria research and control, including erythrocyte invasion (Culleton and Kaneko, in press; Persson, in press), antigenic variation (Diez et al., in press), cerebral malaria (Kawai and Sugiyama, in press), transmission blocking (Hirai and Mori, in press), malaria toxin (Arrighi and Faye, in press), drug resistance (Mita, in press), vaccine development (Tsuboi et al., in press), and malaria elimination (Kaneko, in press). In the last session the participants and audiences discussed the feasibility of global malaria elimination towards eradication with two program managers from endemic nations, George Taleo from Vanuatu and Willis Akhwale from Kenya. We hope that the synergistic interactions in this symposium will provide novel knowledge and strategies for the global malaria challenge in the 21st century.
0001-706X/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2010.02.002
Finally, we thank all the participants for their active contributions to the seminar and the JSPS Stockholm Office for their assistance and Pedro, Isabelle and Sabina for their help. This seminar is financially funded by JSPS, and also partially by Swedish Research Council, and the Global COE of Nagasaki University.
Appendix A. List of contributors [Sweden] Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet Dr. Kristina Persson, [email protected] Associate Professor Qijun Chen, [email protected] Professor Mats Wahlgren, [email protected] Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet Dr. Achuyt Bhattarai, [email protected] Dr. Pedro Gil, [email protected] Associate Professor Akira Kaneko, [email protected] Professor Anders Björkman, [email protected] Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet Associate Professor Per Úhlen, [email protected] Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology, Stockholm University Dr. Romanico Arrighi, [email protected] Professor Ingrid Faye, [email protected] [Kenya] Division of Malaria Control, Ministry of Health Head/Dr. Willis Akhwale, [email protected] [Vanuatu] Vector-borne Disease Control, Ministry of Health Manager/Mr. George Taleo, [email protected] [Japan] Department of Medical Zoology, Jichi Medical University Dr. Makoto Hirai, [email protected] Emeritus Professor Akira Ishii, [email protected] Center for Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Dokkyo Medical University Associate Professor Satoru Kawai, [email protected] Department of International Affairs and Tropical Medicine, Tokyo Women’s Medical University Lecturer/Dr. Toshihiro Mita, [email protected] Professor Takatoshi Kobayakawa, [email protected]
130
Foreword / Acta Tropica 114 (2010) 129–130
Department of Medical Zoology, Faculty of Medicine, Mie University Emeritus Professor Yasuo Chinzei, [email protected] Cell-Free Science and Technology Research Center, Ehime University Professor Takafumi Tsuboi, [email protected] Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University Professor Osamu Kaneko, [email protected] President/Professor Kenji Hirayama, [email protected] Department of Mechanical Engineering and Science, Kyoto University Professor Susumu Goto, [email protected] Dr. Diego Diez, [email protected] References Arrighi, R.B., Faye, I., 2010. Plasmodium falciparum GPI toxin: a common foe for man and mosquito. Acta Trop. 114, 162–165. Culleton, R.L., Kaneko, O., 2010. Erythrocyte binding ligands in malaria parasites: intracellular trafficking and parasite virulence. Acta Trop. 114, 131–137. Diez, D., Hayes, N., Joannin, N., Normark, J., Kanehisa, M., Wahlgren, M., Wheelock, C.E., Goto, S., 2010. varDB: a database of antigenic variant sequences-current status and future prospects. Acta Trop. 114, 144–151. Feachem, R.G.A., The Malaria Elimination Group, 2009. Shrinking the malaria map: a guide on malaria elimination for policy makers. The Global Health Group, Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco. Hirai, M., Mori, T., 2010. Fertilization is a novel attacking site for the transmission blocking of malaria parasites. Acta Trop. 114, 157–161. Kaneko, A., 2010. A community-directed strategy for sustainable malaria elimination on islands: short-term MDA integrated with ITNs and robust surveillance. Acta Trop. 114, 177–183.
Kawai, S., Sugiyama, M., 2010. Imaging analysis of the brain in a primate model of cerebral malaria. Acta Trop. 114, 152–156. Mita, T., 2010. Origins and spread of dhfr mutant alleles in Plasmodium falciparum. Acta Trop. 114, 166–170. Persson, K.E.M., 2010. Erythrocyte invasion and functionally inhibitory antibodies in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Acta Trop. 114, 138–143. Tsuboi, T., Takeo, S., Arumugam, T.U., Otsuki, H., Torii, M., 2010. The wheat germ cellfree protein synthesis system: a key tool for novel malaria vaccine candidate discovery. Acta Trop. 114, 171–176.
Akira Kaneko ∗ Island Malaria Group, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Global COE, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan Department of Immunology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Mats Wahlgren Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ∗ Corresponding author at: Island Malaria Group, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Nobels väg 16, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel.: +46 8 524 86736. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Kaneko)
25 January 2010 Available online 6 February 2010