Roland Cooper PhD of Dominican University has spent the last several summers in Kampala Uganda studying resistance patterns to the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. He will be visiting UNM on November 1st to discuss his work on Artemisinin Resistance in Plasmodium falciparum.

Read his recent article  Lack of Artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum in Uganda

For review:

1. Malaria Infection Increases Attractiveness of Humans to Mosquitoes. Lacroix R, Mukabana WR, Gouagna LC, Koella JC (2005) PloS Biol 3(9):e298.
2. NPR Mosquitoes are more likely to seek out human blood after infection with Plasmodium. Another example of hijacking of host neural machinery?
3. Malaria Chapter
4. Read Curious Orthodoxy Antibiotic Prescribing

Writing Assignment: Artemisinin is modern drug derived from wormwood, an ancient remedy for malaria. Artemisinin in combination with other drugs is the last effective treatment for Falciparum malaria in many places in Asia, and especially in Africa. If you were in charge of the World Health Organization, what are two things you would recommend to ensure that we can still use artemisinin for malaria in Africa 20 years from now.

Make up extra credit (only do this if you have missed a writing assignment, or missed a class because of illness, or previously turned in an assignment late). Some research supports the idea that malaria parasites manipulate their hosts. How and why might the malaria parasites affect  mosquitoes and their human hosts?

Tuesday, November 1st 2016, 5:30PM; 107 Castetter Hall, guest lecture for the Evolutionary Medicine Class:

Campus map – (Castetter is #21):

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Joe Alcock

Emergency Physician, Educator, Researcher, interested in the microbiome, evolution, and medicine