Ragon Institute

Lab Overview

The Idris Lab aims to address the knowledge gaps surrounding the mechanisms that underly durable immunity against malaria. Malaria persists as a significant health burden in developing countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa where young children and pregnant women are disproportionately affected. Despite improved public health measures such as rapid diagnostics, anti-malarial drugs and insecticides, efforts to control the disease have stalled due to the emergence of resistant parasites and mosquitoes.

With over 5000 genes, Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, is a unicellular parasite that has a complex multi-stage life cycle and poses daunting hurdles for both the host’s immune system and effective vaccine development. Our lab is interested in revealing the vulnerabilities of this parasite and gaining an understanding of its impact on the host immune response. Such valuable insights have led to the discovery of potent monoclonal antibodies that target the pre-erythrocytic stage of the parasite’s life cycle and prevent infection [1, 3-5].

To further these discoveries, our lab will interrogate naturally exposed and vaccinated human cohorts, while simultaneously leveraging in vitro and in vivo malaria models to study host immune responses and evaluate the efficacy of potential anti-malarial biologics. Through these approaches, we can uncover novel targets that correlate to protection bringing us steps closer to unlocking the blueprint for developing more effective antibodies and vaccines.