The Human Malaria Immunology Group’s goal is to inform the development of effective malaria vaccines by defining functional mechanisms of antibodies that target the parasite, and the development of protective antibodies in humans.

Currently, the most advanced malaria vaccine has only 36 per cent efficacy, with efficacy further reduced in infants and in populations with high prior malaria exposure. We aim to inform the development of next-generation malaria vaccines by:

1. identifying and characterising key functional mechanisms of antibodies that mediate protection,
2. defining the key cellular mechanisms that promote the generation of functional antibodies, and
3. quantifying the impact of host age and prior malaria exposure on antibody development.