# Mentoring in Translational Malaria Genomics

> **NIH NIH K24** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2021 · $174,464

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Dr. Jonathan Juliano is an internationally recognized leader in malaria research and a pioneer in the use of
next generation sequencing technologies for applied genomics projects. He is an Associate Professor in the
Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has helped to
establish a major center for translational malaria research. He has had continuous independent NIH funding
since 2010. Dr. Juliano is committed to an academic career in patient-oriented research (POR), in which he
and his trainees address problems with direct relevance to malaria control. Recently, he received the
prestigious 2016 Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction at UNC for his strong
record of mentoring trainees, which focuses on Infectious Disease fellows and MD/PhD students involed in
POR. The proposed K24 award will allow Dr. Juliano to develop new research skills to enhance his research
expertise and mentorship by gaining skills in statistical genetics and population genomics, by learning
strategies for effective leadership, and by enhancing his mentoring skills. The proposed research will
establish new research opportunities to foster the career development of his trainees. To achieve his goals, Dr.
Juliano will leverage the extensive training resources available at UNC, including the NC Translational and
Clinical Sciences Institute, the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and the School of Medicine. Dr.
Juliano’s involvement in these programs, as well as the School of Medicine MD/PhD program and the UNC
Infectious Diseases Fellowship program, ensures that he will be well positioned to recruit and mentor trainees,
including students, fellows and junior faculty. As part of this proposal, he will receive both formal and informal
guidance to develop as a mentor and also increase his participation in formal mentoring activities on campus.
Central to Dr. Juliano’s research is understanding antimalarial resistance. The emergence of drug-resistant
malaria parasites is a major hurdle in the control of Plasmodium falciparum, which has evolved resistance to
nearly every antimalarial drug in use. Importantly, little is known about how parasite populations evolve to
permit the emergence and spread of resistance. Statistical genetics and demographic inference provide a
framework for understanding parasite population characteristics that impact the rate and timing of the spread of
resistance. These approaches provide an opportunity to predict future paths for the spread of resistance and to
help develop targeted interventions. The Demographic Inference to Study Antimalarial Resistance
Migration (DISARM) study will translate advances made in statistical genetics for humans to the study of
malaria parasite populations. The proposed K24 will permit Dr. Juliano to develop a research platform that is a
natural extension of his previous work, represents a significant methodological advance fo...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10077822
- **Project number:** 5K24AI134990-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Jonathan J Juliano
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $174,464
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-01-12 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10077822

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10077822, Mentoring in Translational Malaria Genomics (5K24AI134990-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10077822. Licensed CC0.

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