Join our in-vitro ring-stage survival assay training in Cambodia

WWARN Published Date

Following the development of the Ring-stage Survival Assay (RSA) by the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia, the WWARN network is supporting a 5-day practical RSA workshop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 29 September to 3 October to enlarge the community of malaria researchers who can perform these new assays. The RSA procedure enables researchers to evaluate the reduced susceptibility of slow-clearing Plasmodium falciparum parasites to artemisinin, one of the first line antimalarial drugs used to treat patients.

The RSA workshop will provide participants with in-depth guidance and support from Didier Menard and Benoit Witkowski, at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia, to perform both in vitro and ex vivo RSA on culture adapted and fresh isolates of Plasmodium falciparum and to reliably interpret microscopy-based results of the assay.

The training is targeted at researchers from malaria endemic regions who have proven expertise in malaria culture and the standard in vitro assay of drug susceptibility. It follows on from a similar training in Kenya  which also encouraged training participants to return to their laboratory site to detect and monitor the presence of artemisinin resistant parasites in their region / country.

A workshop participant, Hoseah Akala, shares her perspective on the workshop,

The RSA training provided useful skills for determining variability in response to artemisinin among Kenyan isolates. Moving forward, this assay will be an integral part of in vivo efficacy studies in the region. The RSA skills will ease identification of changes in artemisinin sensitivity and therefore complement efficacy studies in guiding effective treatment.’ [PhD. Senior Research Officer, Malaria Drug Resistance Laboratory, GEIS - KEMRI/USAMRU-K].

Download full application and agenda details of the 5-day training this September. Contact Benoit Witkowski bwitkowski(at)pasteur-kh.org with any additional questions and / or completed application. Please note all costs of the RSA workshop activities will be supported by WWARN, however, participants will be required to cover the costs of their own round trip travel to Phnom Penh, their accommodation and maintenance costs during the workshop.

Download and share the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP): Ring-stage Survival Assays (RSA) to evaluate the in-vitro and ex-vivo susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum to artemisinins. This was developed by Benoit Witkowski and Didier Ménard and further improved in collaboration with Chanaki Amaratunga and Rick M. Fairhurst, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, NIAID, NIH. 

Did you know? Artemisinin resistant in vitro culture adapted parasites from the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia are available at MR4 in the USA for investigators to use as controls for the ring-stage assay and other applications.

Six culture isolates, starting with MRA-1236 Plasmodium falciparum IPC3445 Pailin Cambodia 2010, are available to order in the BEI Resources online catalogue now.  To request these strains, investigators need to register with BEI Resources for access to the online catalog at Level 2.

Further information on registration for online access to all MR4 and BEI Resources cultures and reagents are available to investigators world-wide through the NIAID.

Stay up to date with the WWARN In Vitro Module activities by regularly visiting the group page.