Malaria-Molecular Epidemiology Group

The Malaria-Molecular Epidemiology Group conducts research on the molecular epidemiology of the parasite that causes malaria, using molecular and bioinformatics tools to contribute to the development of new strategies for the control and future elimination of malaria in the Peruvian Amazon. To this end, the laboratory collaborates with national and international entities. The research projects carried out in this laboratory involve genomic surveillance studies of malaria in different communities in the Peruvian Amazon, using state-of-the-art molecular technologies (whole genome sequencing and next-generation sequencing, WGS and NGS) and bioinformatics tools. This allows us to evaluate the genetics of populations to determine the distribution of parasite variants, identify molecular markers of resistance to antimalarials, and determine the deletion of genes associated with rapid diagnostic test failures. In addition, new diagnostic methods (at points of care) are developed and validated for the identification of Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum.