Queen Saidi Naumanga

Host institution:  Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Moshi, Tanzania; Local Supervisor Reginald Kavishe

Supervisor:          Assoc Prof Michael Alifrangis, University of Copenhagen

 

Study Title

Assessment of sub- microscopic infections and molecular markers of malaria parasite drug resistance.

Research Hypothesis

Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is the drug of choice for malaria prevention during pregnancy, however high resistance reduces its efficacy. Studies have shown that an alternative drug dihydroartemisinin- piperaquine (DP) could be more effective. The project will determine the molecular markers of SP and DP resistance in blood samples testing positive for malaria parasites and assess the impact of these markers on the efficacy of SP or DP.

Research Objectives

  • To measure the prevalence and incidence of P. falciparum infections by PCR

  • To measure the prevalence of molecular markers associated with SP and DP resistance in P. falciparum cross study sites and their effect on the protective efficacy of IPTp-SP and IPTp-DP.

  • To measure the impact of the IPTp strategy using either SP or DP on the possible selection of molecular markers

Profile

Queen holds a B.Sc. In Biotechnology and laboratory sciences from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, graduating in 2011. Between 2012-2014, she worked as a laboratory scientist for different projects at the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute where she worked on molecular techniques for the detection of enteric pathogens by PCR and testing TB drug levels in TB patients using HPLC.

Queen was awarded a VRIL-UOS scholarship in 2014 for a Masters degree in Molecular biology at the Vrije University in Brussels, Belgium. She gained more skills in molecular biology techniques and scientific writing and graduated in 2016. In 2017 and joined the Joint Malaria Programme, a joint collaborative link between the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Tanzania, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in the UK, and the Centre for Medical Parasitology (CMP) at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, as a research scientist.

Queen says "One of my dreams was always to do research that will direct impact the community. As the name says, the IMPROVE project is about improving pregnancy outcomes. Even though I had not done malaria research before, I knew this was something I should be part of. So, when experiments get tough and am I overwhelmed by work I remind myself of how this work will help to improve people’s lives and it keeps me going"

 

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