A new research agenda for malaria elimination and eradication is laid out in a collection of review articles, led by Regina Rabinovich and colleagues of the Malaria Eradication Scientific Alliance (MESA), in this week's PLOS Medicine. This Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) Refresh Collection includes seven articles outlining a broad interdisciplinary research agenda with the goal of accelerating malaria elimination and, in the longer term, transforming the malaria community's ability to eradicate it globally.
In 2011, the malERA effort published a collection of nine articles that aimed to identify key knowledge gaps and define the strategies and tools that will result in malaria elimination and eradication. As part of an initiative to review progress and identify emerging challenges of the proposed research agenda, the malERA Refresh consultative process was undertaken in 2016, including 6 panels chaired and co-chaired by experts in the different fields with input from 180 experts engaged in the malaria eradication research. The articles focus on six keys areas of research including 1) basic science and enabling technologies; 2) combination interventions and modelling; 3) diagnostics, drugs, vaccines and vector control; 4) insecticide and drug resistance; 5) characterizing the reservoir and measuring transmission; and 6) health systems and policy research.
Regina Rabinovich, of MESA says: "The malERA papers provide a framework for focus for research funders whether government or private; for the World Health Organization, where recommendations on tools and strategies are made; and for each country, which has to make the specific decisions to shape its programs." She continues: "The global malaria enterprise remains hugely challenging and transforming the mindset from implementation to problem solving is an essential task for both the next generation of scientists and program implementers."
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Collection Review
Funding:
MESA received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation http://www.malariaeradication.org/mesa-track (OPP1034591). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests:
AD is a member of MPAC (Malaria Policy Advisory Committee). BFH is a member of the MESA (Malaria Eradication Scientific Alliance) Strategic Advisory Council. SIH is funded by grants from the BMGF (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) the Wellcome Trust and the Fleming Fund. AMN is a member of the WHO malaria Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Experts Group and is co-chair of the Roll Back Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group. AMN is also a member of the Editorial Board of PLOS Medicine. FOO is supported by a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Research Fellowship. RS receives funding from the BMGF and is a member of the MESA Strategic Advisory Council. MT declares that he is a member of the MESA Steering Committee, chair of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) of WHO/GMP on Malaria Eradication and was a member of MPAC until 2016. TW is a non-executive director of Kymab. EAW is on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation. EAW receives funding from the BMGF, Medicines for Malaria Venture, NIH, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation. DFW receives funding from the BMGF. PLA is Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme, a member of the MESA Steering Committee and holds grants from the BMGF. KW is a member of the MESA Secretariat. RR is the Chair of the MESA Steering Committee and is Principal Investigator on the MESA grant from the BMGF. RR is the Chair of the MESA Steering Committee and is Principal Investigator on the MESA grant from the BMGF. RR is the ExxonMobil Scholar in Residence at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Citation:
Rabinovich RN, Drakeley C, Djimde AA, Hall BF, Hay SI, Hemingway J, et al. (2017) malERA: An updated research agenda for malaria elimination and eradication. PLoS Med 14(11): e1002456. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002456
Author Affiliations:
ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Cl?´nic--Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, United States of America
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSTMH), London, United Kingdom
University of Science, Techniques and Technology of Bamako, Bamako, Mali
National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
PATH Essential Medicines and PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya
Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania, School of Public Health, Ifakara, Tanzania
School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, South Africa
Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
PATH Malaria Control and Elimination Partnership in Africa, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
Swiss TPH, Basel, Switzerland
Medicines for Malaria Venture, Geneva, Switzerland
College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, United States of America
WHO Global Malaria Programme, Geneva, Switzerland
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Other Articles in the Collection
Collection Review (1)
Citation:
The malERA Refresh Consultative Panel on Insecticide and Drug Resistance (2017) malERA: An updated research agenda for insecticide and drug resistance in malaria elimination and eradication. PLoS Med 14(11): e1002450. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002450
Author Affiliations:
Imperial College London, London, UK
University of Science, Techniques and Technology of Bamako, Bamako, Mali
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network and Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Collection Review (2)
Citation:
The malERA Refresh Consultative Panel on Basic Science and Enabling Technologies (2017) MalERA: An updated research agenda for basic science and enabling technologies in malaria elimination and eradication. PLoS Med 14(11): e1002451. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002451
Author Affiliations:
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
ISGlobal Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
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Collection Review (3)
Citation:
The malERA Refresh Consultative Panel on Characterising the Reservoir and Measuring Transmission (2017) malERA: An updated research agenda for characterising the reservoir and measuring transmission in malaria elimination and eradication. PLoS Med 14(11): e1002452. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002452
Author Affiliations:
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Oxford Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
PATH, Diagnostics Program, Seattle, Washington, USA
Center for Applied Malaria Research and Evaluation, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clinic--Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), Melbourne, Australia
Mahidol Vivax Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Thailand
Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Collection Review (4)
Citation:
The malERA Refresh Consultative Panel on Combination Interventions and Modelling (2017) malERA: An updated research agenda for combination interventions and modelling in malaria elimination and eradication. PLoS Med 14(11): e1002453. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002453
Author Affiliations:
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Seattle, Washington, USA
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
ISGlobal, Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), Hospital Clinic--Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
PATH Malaria Control and Elimination Partnership in Africa, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Collection Review (5)
Citation:
The malERA Refresh Consultative Panel on Health Systems and Policy Research (2017) malERA: An updated research agenda for health systems and policy research in malaria elimination and eradication. PLoS Med 14(11): e1002454. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002454
Author Affiliations:
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
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Collection Review (6)
Citation:
The malERA Refresh Consultative Panel on Tools for Malaria Elimination (2017) malERA: An updated research agenda for diagnostics, drugs, vaccines, and vector control in malaria elimination and eradication. PLoS Med 14(11): e1002455. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002455
Author Affiliations:
PATH Essential Medicines and PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, Seattle, Washington, USA
Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, Tanzania
Medicines for Malaria Venture, Geneva, Switzerland
ISGlobal, Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), Hospital Clinic--Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Journal
PLOS Medicine