# Employing Genetic and Genomic Surveillance to Reveal Mechanisms of Malaria Parasite Persistance

> **NIH NIH K01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $73,070

## Abstract

Abstract
 With the support of this K01, Dr. Amy Bei will pursue her career goal of conducting cutting-edge tropical
diseases research in the United States and overseas, in close collaboration with resident scientists in malaria
endemic countries. Dr. Bei's research focuses on applied international public health, and lies at the intersection
between population genetics, genomics, epidemiology, molecular genetics, and immunology. She will use a
translational systems biology approach to study the impact of antigenic diversity on immune evasion and
vector transmission. The mentorship and training proposed here will facilitate her transition to an independent
researcher, working towards the goal of an effective, diversity-transcendent vaccine for malaria.
 As an established member of two scientific communities, Dr. Bei contributes to the activities of the
Harvard Malaria Initiative at HTHCSPH and the Broad Institute, which provide the technical innovation and
scientific resources needed to augment her growth as a scientist, and to those of the greater malaria research
community of Dakar, Senegal, which is represented by the Institute Pasteur Dakar, University Cheikh Anta
Diop, National Malaria Control Program, and PATH: MACEPA. While based at Le Dantec Hospital in the
laboratories of Drs. Daouda Ndiaye and Souleymane Mboup, Dr. Bei has guided both malaria training and
research activities for the past 5 years. Dr. Bei will assess the impact of genetic diversity on the development
of immunity and dynamics of vector transmission in malaria endemic West Africa, while gaining expertise in the
analytical tools needed to process complex genomic and transcriptomic data. She will conduct these studies
under the expert guidance of U.S. mentor Dr. Dyann Wirth, Department Chair of Immunology and Infectious
Diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health, a leader in malaria biology with extensive experience in
studying parasite genetics, elucidating mechanisms of drug resistance, and developing advanced genomic
approaches; Senegal mentor Dr. Daouda Ndiaye, Chief of the Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology at Le
Dantec Hospital, a recognized leader in infectious diseases research on antimalarial drug resistance and
malaria parasite diversity; co-mentor Dr. Carole Long, Chief of the Malaria Immunology Section, LMVR, NIAID,
NIH and director of the Malaria Vaccine Reference Center; and co-mentor Dr. Rick Fairhurst, Chief of the
Malaria Pathogenesis and Human Immunity Unit, LMVR, NIAID, NIH. Both co-mentors have extensive
expertise in performing longitudinal cohort studies, standardizing immune and drug resistance assays, and
evaluating malaria vaccines.
 Antigenic diversity plays a major role in immune evasion, potentially compromising the development of
natural or vaccine induced protective immunity. In Senegal, parasites with identical genotypes are found to
increasingly infect multiple individuals in the population. This unique observation provides an unprecedented...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10452223
- **Project number:** 3K01TW010496-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Amy Kristine Bei
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $73,070
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-09-28 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10452223

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10452223, Employing Genetic and Genomic Surveillance to Reveal Mechanisms of Malaria Parasite Persistance (3K01TW010496-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10452223. Licensed CC0.

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