The fight against malaria, a disease the World Health Organization blames for nearly half a million deaths annually, received support from a $9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The funding will go toward seven research centers worldwide that were established in 2010, an NIAID release said.
NIAID Director Anthony Fauci noted the significant contributions of the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research in the release.
“We look forward to their continued multidisciplinary efforts to further our understanding of the complex interactions between human hosts, mosquito vectors and the Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria, so that we may work toward controlling, eliminating and eventually eradicating this global scourge,” Fauci was quoted as saying in the release.
The announcement said the search for a suitable malaria vaccine has proved elusive, and the few drugs that work have side effects or are quickly rendered obsolete as carrier organisms become immune.
“The 2017 awards under the ICEMR program will enable scientists to continue vital malaria research, which often straddles disciplines to address the most pressing problems and practicalities of fighting malaria," Dr. Lee Hall, chief of NIAID’s Parasitology and International Programs branch, was quoted as saying in the release.
