Reinvigorating Malaria Control, Prevention and Treatment: From Bench to Bedside to Bednets

The combination of the first approved malaria vaccine, the COVID-19 pandemic and a flattening -- since 2015 -- of malaria morbidity and mortality rates has created an opportunity to reflect and re-imagine.

What do we need to do to rein in a parasite that has felled armies, shaped the human genome and continues to evolve to elude new medications? Which new approaches, or more nuanced versions of old approaches, will stymie the insect vector, Anopheles mosquitoes? Can we double down on transmission, both to and from the human host?

Ninety percent of the burden of malaria falls on sub-Saharan Africa: what critical capacities are needed there to prevent infection and better manage disease? At the 2023 Malaria Gordon Research Conference, we will gather as a community to learn from a broad array of speakers representing traditional areas of malaria interest and expertise (clinical medicine, entomology, epidemiology, parasitology, vaccines, immunology) and to cross-fertilize with contributions from historians, neuroscientists, communication and implementation experts, neurologists and data scientists.

The GRC will be held immediately following a Malaria Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), which targets students, postdoctoral fellows and junior investigators, and in the tradition of Gordon Conferences, both will provide a safe and inclusive environment for these younger members of the malaria community to discuss new, unpublished data with established investigators and thought leaders during formal sessions, in front of posters, over coffee, at meals, and whilst recreating outdoors.

The meeting will prioritize the participation of investigators from malaria-endemic areas. By including individuals from all career stages and a variety of disciplines, we hope to foster innovation and support new collaborative relationships to capitalize on this pivotal moment in malaria control and eradication.