WWARN postdoc fellow led malaria workshop
IDDO/WWARN and University of Cape Town (UCT) TDR post-doctoral fellow Dr Daniel Yilma presented his latest malaria research at the recent workshop in Ethiopia.
Jointly organised by Jimma University with the National Malaria Program of Ministry of Health; and supported by TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases; IDDO and WWARN, Dr Yilma led the workshop, which aimed to share evidence to support strengthening policy and guidance on safe and effective radical cure and transmission blocking antimalarial treatment implementation in Ethiopia.
The workshop, titled 'Safe and Effective Use of Antimalarial Treatment for Transmission Blockage and Radical Cure towards Malaria Elimination in Ethiopia: Evidences for Policy' created a platform for collaboration, scientific dialogue and linking malaria researchers with policy makers and implementers.
Dr Yilma, of Jimma University, presented his work alongside fellow IDDO/WWARN colleagues. There were presentations by Professor Karen Barnes, University of Cape Town (UCT), who shared her work on 'Single low dose Primaquine for transmission blocking to advance elimination' and Professor Ric Price and Dr Kamala Ley-Thriemer, Menzies School of Health Research, who discussed their work on 'The Challenges in Plasmodium vivax malaria elimination'.
Dr Yilma joined IDDO/WWARN on a TDR Clinical Research and Development Fellowship in 2020. He was based within the South Africa Centre at UCT and Asia-Pacific Regional Centre - at Menzies School of Health Research, Australia, where he worked on the safety of primaquine in P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria treatment.
The TDR fellowship offers protected research time for researchers from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) to focus on developing skills that are not readily available at their home institutes.
Dr Yilma said: "I decided to pursue a WHO/TDR fellowship to strengthen my knowledge in clinical trials, increase networking and gain more experience in my research field out of my institution and country. I gained a huge amount of knowledge and expertise during my 12-month Fellowship and have been able to bring these skills back to share with colleagues at both my institution and the wider African research community.
"The workshop at Jimma University, organised with National Malaria Program of Ministry of Health, is a great example of how the wider research community can benefit from global collaborations."
Dr Yilma is now continuing his research as a UCT post-doctoral fellow within the Southern African Centre of IDDO based at the UCT Collaborating Centre for Optimising Antimalarial Therapy, and working with WWARN collaborators to find effective and simplified malaria treatment and diagnostic tools.