Michelle Muthui
Supervisors
Dr. Melissa Kapulu
Dr. Melissa Kapulu
Email : MKapulu@kemri-wellcome.org Melissa attended the University of Zambia (199-2004) where she undertook a BSc in Molecular biology and genetics. Upon receipt of a Commonwealth Scholarship, Melissa moved to London where she read for an MSc in Immunology of Infectious Diseases (2006-2007), at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 2007, she moved back to Zambia and worked at the University of Zambia (Biological Sciences Department and School of Medicine) and in addition, worked in Paul Kelly’s lab, looking at oral immune responses to vaccination (Tropical Gastroenterology & Nutrition Group) (2007-2009). In 2009, she received further Commonwealth Scholarship funding for DPhil research on malaria transmission-blocking vaccines in Adrian Hill’s lab, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford (2009-2014). In May of 2013, Melissa took up a post-doctoral position with Kevin Marsh at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi working on assessing the infectious reservoir of malaria. Her main interests are in understanding immunological aspects of malaria transmission with the aim of identifying and developing vaccine candidate targets.
Prof. Philip Bejon
Email : PBejon@kemri-wellcome.org 
Phone : +07-5555-565 I first came to Kilifi in 2002 to conduct Phase I and IIb clinical trials of a candidate malaria vaccine based on viral vectors. I returned to the University of Oxford in 2006 to complete specialist clinical training as a clinical lecturer, and then was appointed as a senior fellow in the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. These posts allowed me to remain active in malaria research, leading further trials of GSK’s candidate malaria vaccine “RTS,S”, and as a member of the Malaria Vectored Vaccine Consortium funded to test viral vectored malaria vaccines in several sites in Africa including Kilifi. An MRC Clinician-Scientist Fellowship, allowed me to return to be resident full-time in Kilifi in 2013, and I became Executive Director of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in September 2014.
Dr. Andrew Blagborough
Affiliations:
Imperial College London, Department of Life Sciences
After obtaining his degree in Biochemistry and Applied Clinical Biochemistry from UMIST in 2001, Andrew completed a PhD in Molecular Parasitology from the University of Manchester, studying the folate biosynthetic pathway of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. In 2006 he joined the Sinden lab at Imperial College, London, to study the sexual stages of Plasmodium, with an emphasis on developing transmission-blocking interventions (TBIs) to target the parasite within the mosquito host, inhibiting or preventing the onward transmission of malaria. He is currently a Principal Investigator in the DoLS, and his main interests focus on the identification of novel anti-malarial transmission blocking vaccine targets, vaccine delivery, the development of assays to examine TBI efficacy, and assessing the practical impact of introducing TBIs on populations of mosquitoes and vertebrate in both the laboratory and the field.
Mentors
Prof. James Kahindi
Prof. James Nokes
Email : JNokes@kemri-wellcome.org James Nokes is Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick. Since 2001 he has been based full time at the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme, Kilifi coastal Kenya. James trained in Zoology (BSc) followed by a PhD in virus epidemiology. His principle interests are the transmission dynamics and control of human viral pathogens, including respiratory syncytial virus and rotavirus. The focus of his WT Senior Investigator Award is the integration of epidemiological and genomic data to infer transmission pathways at different scales of interest from the household to countrywide. His research group is inter-disciplinary using molecular, phylogenetic, immunological, mathematical, statistical and field approaches to address key questions relating to respiratory and enteric virus persistence, transmission, and intervention.
Dr. Abdirahman Abdi
Abdi is molecular biologist with special interest in malaria. Abdi worked with the Programme between 2005-2006 as an intern, then research assistant investigating antimalarial drug resistance. He was then awarded a Ph.D. studentship by the AntiMal International Ph.D. Programme where he joined Prof Christian Doerig’s laboratory at the University of Glasgow working on P. falciparum protein Kinases. He rejoined the Programme in 2010 as Post Doc to work with Dr Peter Bull on PfEMP1 and it is role in the pathogenesis of severe malaria. In 2014 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Training Fellowship to study the secretome of malaria parasites.
My research focus lies in identifying malaria parasite targets on the forms of the parasite responsible for human to mosquito transmission which if blocked by antibodies or drugs would inhibit the development of the parasite within the mosquito. These targets can then be used to aid the design of transmission-blocking vaccines which unlike conventional vaccines that protect against disease, prevent the transmission of malaria. I have previously worked on assessing the relationship between a parasite variant surface antigen (PfEMP1) and the different clinical manifestations of malaria using molecular assays in a bid to identify a subset of these antigens with a role in severe malaria. My background training is in biochemistry and molecular genetics which has not only helped me in my chosen field of study but also inspired me to delve deeper into parasite genetics. Aside from research, I like to participate in student mentorship programmes.
Publications:
- Serological conservation of parasite-infected erythrocytes predicts PfEMP1 antigen expression but not childhood malaria severity, Warimwe GM, Abdi AI, Muthui M, Fegan G, Musyoki JN, Marsh K, et al. | Infect Immun. 2016; doi:10.1128/IAI.00772-15.
- Global selection of Plasmodium falciparum virulence antigen expression by host antibodies., Abdi AI, Warimwe GM, Muthui MK, Kivisi CA, Kiragu EW, Fegan GW, et al. | Sci Rep. 2016;6: 19882. doi:10.1038/srep19882.
- Differential Plasmodium falciparum surface antigen expression among children with Malarial Retinopathy, Abdi AI, Kariuki SM, Muthui MK, Kivisi C a., Fegan G, Gitau E, et al. | Sci Rep. Nature Publishing Group; 2015;5: 18034. doi:10.1038/srep18034.
- Evaluating controlled human malaria infection in Kenyan adults with varying degrees of prior exposure to Plasmodium falciparum using sporozoites administered by intramuscular injection, Hodgson SH, Juma E, Salim A, Magiri C, Kimani D, Njenga D, et al. | Front Microbiol. 2014;5: 1–10. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00686.
- Measuring Soluble ICAM-1 in African Populations, Abdi AI, Muthui M, Kiragu E, Bull PC | PLoS One. 2014;9: e108956. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108956.
- Plasmodium falciparum antigenic variation: relationships between widespread endothelial activation, parasite PfEMP1 expression and severe malaria. Abdi AI, Fegan G, Muthui M, Kiragu E, Musyoki JN, Opiyo M, et al. | BMC Infect Dis. BMC Infectious Diseases; 2014;14: 170. doi:10.1186/1471-2334-14-170.
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