Back
Signature Seminar Series: "Innovative Tools for Malaria Surveillance and Elimination in Myanmar" by Dr Myaing Myaing Nyunt
ABOUT THE LECTURE:
A large reservoir of subclinical malaria infection is recently recognized as the major target of elimination in the Greater Mekong Subregion, but they are missed by routine diagnostics due to a very low parasite density in these infections. Using a new ultrasensitive PCR tool, which is thousands-fold more sensitive than routine tests, and capable of detecting low density malaria, we conducted large molecular surveillance study in close collaboration with the governmental and non-governmental partners in Myanmar and its border with China and Bangladesh, and showed that subclinical malaria at a very low density can be reliably detected by a new, DNA and RNA-based, fingerstick usPCR method, and that malaria heterogeneity may be higher than expected. Prospective longitudinal studies assessing
the clinical and transmission risks posed by this subclinical malaria reservoir are ongoing. Several other investigations are ongoing to assess serological markers to identify populations at risk, using microarrays, genomic markers to understand parasite migrations, and geospatial mapping and modelling. Results are expected to provide evidence-based elimination strategies.
HOST:
Prof Wang Linfa
Professor & Director
Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme
Duke-NUS Medical School
VENUE:
Duke-NUS Medical School
Amphitheatre, Level 2
CONTACT:
Ms Cynthia Lim
Duke-NUS Research Affairs Department
Email: cynthia.lim@duke-nus.edu.sg
Date and Time
07 Mar 2019 @ 15:00 - 07 Mar 2019 @ 16:00
Speaker
Dr Myaing Myaing Nyunt
Associate Professor
Medicine and Global Health
Duke Global Health Institute
Myaing Myaing Nyunt, Associate Professor of Medicine and Global Health at Duke Global Health Institute, received her M.D. from George Washington School of Medicine, and MPH and PhD from the Johns Hopkins University. She trained in general medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and completed a fellowship in clinical pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Before joining Duke, Dr. Nyunt was a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland Baltimore.