Science AMA Series: This is Teun Bousema, PhD. I do research in malaria
epidemiology, with a specific focus on malaria transmission and parasite
biology, and I’m here today to talk about it. AMA!
Abstract
Hi Reddit! I’m Teun Bousema and I’m an epidemiologist in the Department
of Medical Microbiology at Radboud University Medical Center in
Nijmegen, the Netherlands. My research focuses on understanding the
transmission of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum (P.
falciparum) – that is, how malaria-infected humans are able to infect
mosquitoes. I lived and worked for many years in Kenya, Tanzania and the
United Kingdom before moving to Radboud University Medical Center. One
of the unique achievements of my department is the development of a safe
controlled human infection model for malaria. In our current publication
in eLife, we utilized this model to study the biology and transmission
potential of controlled P. falciparum infections in Dutch volunteers who
were exposed to malaria-infected mosquitoes. Our volunteers received
treatment that controlled the pathogenic forms of malaria (and thus kept
them safe) but stimulated the production of non-pathogenic transmissible
stages of malaria parasites – the so-called gametocytes. We
successfully induced gametocytes in all volunteers in sex ratios that
resemble those observed in natural infections, and found that parasites
start producing gametocytes immediately upon appearing in the
bloodstream. Our model provides a new way to investigate malaria
infection, and could help to test the impact of drugs and vaccines on
gametocytes in the future. I look forward to talking more about our
findings and anything related to my area of expertise more broadly.
Together with Isaie Reuling, a clinician researcher and first author on
the eLife manuscript, I’ll start answering questions at 2pm EDT. You can
read the full eLife paper, and use the annotation tool to make notes and
discuss the findings further. A plain-language summary is also available
here. AMA!