Epidemiology of Malaria and Helminthiasis
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The research group EMH is focused on understanding the epidemiological, immunological and clinical basis of interaction between malaria and helminth infection and using the information to control these diseases in endemic regions. The group also researches to advance Schistosoma diagnosis at a low cost and short time. We also evaluate the efficacy of antihelminth drugs in treating helminth infection. The research group collaborates with partners in Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and currently conducts two clinical-epidemiological studies. One study evaluates the performance and cost of the pooling strategy for detecting the presence and estimating the prevalence and intensity of S. haematobium infection. This study is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/NIH. The second research project conducts a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of repeated anthelminthic treatment on the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of malaria, undernutrition, anemia and cognitive performance of children. Further fieldwork involves evaluating the performance of the FlukeFinder in diagnosing S. haematobium infection and assessing the efficacy of praziquantel in treating the infection. |
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Field data collection for the malaria clinical-epidemiology study |
Research team during field data collection |
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Field data collection to evaluate pooled testing for the diagnosis of S. haematobium infection |
Research Group:
 Abraham Mengist, PhD – Assistant Professor, Lab Director |
 David Brett-Major, MD MPH - Professor |
 Louis Fok – PhD student |
Collaborators:
- M. Jana Broadhurst, MD PhD UNMC College of Medicine
- Tzeyu Michaud, PhD – UNMC College of Public Health
- Christopher Bilder, PhD-UNL
- Abebe Animut, PhD – Addis Ababa University, Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Ethiopia
- Berhanu Erko, Professor – Addis Ababa University, Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Ethiopia
- Bruno Levecke, DVM, PhD-Ghent University, Belgium