Molecular Scientific Group
Our Molecular Group provides tools that summarise the prevalence of molecular markers for resistance to artemisinin, chloroquine, lumefantrine, amodiaquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and displays the patterns of these markers by location and time to facilitate management and containment of antimalarial resistance
Goals of the group
- Translate molecular markers of antimalarial resistance into robust tracking tools that will measure the extent of resistance to currently used antimalarials, monitor their spread and inform containment efforts
- Facilitate the sharing of genotyping procedures and data on molecular markers together with corresponding clinical and in vitro phenotypes from regions of emerging resistance
- Provide data standardisation and analysis service for data contributors. Automated data upload, transformation and analysis documented in the Molecular Data Management and Statistical Analysis Plan
- Coordinate pooled analyses that link parasite genotypes with of retrospective clinical data to uncover subtle trends or sub-population effects through Study Groups
Encouraging quality-assured data collection
- Procedures: step-by-step methods for conducting investigations for sample collection, DNA preparation and resistance genotyping
- Molecular proficiency testing programme: working with laboratories to assess their ability to carry out molecular analysis and resolve any potential problem areas, improving the quality of data output, and determine malaria recrudescence from reinfection using dried blood spot samples
- Molecular tools: freely available tools indexed on the University of Maryland site, courtesy of Professor Chris Plowe and the Center for Vaccine Development
Filling the research gaps
- Molecular Surveyors: interactive maps summarising the date, geographic location of the study site and prevalence of molecular markers of resistance to
- chloroquine, amodiaquine and lumefantrine in Plasmodium falciparum pfcrt and pfmdr1 genes compiled from published and unpublished data
- sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Plasmodium falciparum dhfr and dhps genes compiled from published data
- artemisinins in Plasmodium falciparum focusing on Kelch 13 compiled from published and unpublished data
Publications
For more information on submitting data to the WWARN Data Centre, to get involved with an existing Study Group, or propose a new Study Group, please contact Professor Carol Sibley by email: molecular [at] wwarn [dot] org
Submitting molecular data to WWARN
- To overcome differences in study design, we request individual patient and sample data,
- Data may come from clinical efficacy trials or molecular surveys (see Molecular Data Variables box for required molecular data),
- The secure, online WWARN upload facility accepts any file format,
- For assistance with file preparation or upload, contact molecular [at] wwarn [dot] org
Variables for molecular data
Required for each submitted dataset:
- Unique sample or patient identifier (anonymised)
- Sample collection date
- Molecular resistance marker genotype(s)
- Origin of sample, before treatment, day of recurrence, or day of recrudescence
- Basic information on study site and design
Optional for each submitted dataset:
- Patient age (high priority, if available)
- Genotyped microsatellites in regions flanking resistance markers
- Complexity or multiplicity of infection
