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Evaluating the impact of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria among infants and young children in three sub-Saharan countries

Title of PhD project / theme

Evaluating the impact of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria among infants and young children in three sub-Saharan countries.

Supervisory team

LSHTM
Lead: Dr Matthew Chico (Matthew.Chico@lshtm.ac.uk, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases)  
Prof Roly Gosling 

Nagasaki University
Prof Chris Smith (christopher.smith@lshtm.ac.uk)
Prof Osamu Kaneko 
Prof Satoshi Kaneko 

Brief description of project / theme

Children under the age of five accounted for 67% of the estimated 409,000 malaria deaths globally in 2019.  The vast majority of the global malaria burden is in the Africa Region where 94% of the estimated 229 million malaria cases occur worldwide and 94% of malaria deaths.1  The WHO recommends the use of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for intermittent preventive treatment in infants (SP-IPTi) during the first year of life in moderate-to-high transmission settings, although dosing has been limited to contacts made through the Expanded Programme of Immunization.  LSHTM is leading the evaluation of an innovative modification of SP-IPTi funded by Unitaid designed to increase the number of SP doses administered and to extend the period of protection through the first two years of life.2   

The PhD student will be part of the Impact Evaluation team and collect and analyse data from infant/child cohorts and health facilities in Cameroon and Cote D'Ivoire on malaria and anaemia incidence and prevalence from intervention and non-intervention areas.  The PhD student will also take part in a multicentre study in Mozambique that will measure SP efficacy where the prevalence of the K540E mutation associated with SP is found in approximately 50%, 70%, and 90% of the malaria parasite population.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the PhD student will conduct a meta-analysis of individual participant data to compare SP-IPTi versus other antimalarial treatments across a range of epidemiological settings and dosing regimens.  This will build on the meta-analysis of IPTi published in The Lancet in 2009,3 and extend methods developed in the meta-analysis of preventive malaria treatment among schoolchildren published in The Lancet Global Health in 2020.4 

The role of LSHTM and NU in this collaborative project

Collaboration between LSHTM and NU be cross-discipline and result in multiple learning opportunities for the PhD student to develop novel analytical methods, to present results at leading global health conferences, and to publish results in high impact journals.  The PhD student will participate in meetings and retreats of the Malaria Centre and the MARCH (Maternal, Adolescent, Reproductive and Child Health) Centre at LSHTM, showcasing the research of this collaboration and promote further research ties across institutions. 

Particular prior educational requirements for a student undertaking this project

The ideal candidate for this PhD will have an MSc in the field of Public Health and general knowledge of malaria epidemiology. 

Skills we expect a student to develop/acquire whilst pursuing this project

The PhD student will develop epidemiological and statistical analysis skills, a strong understanding of malaria epidemiology, and inform important health policy debate at regional and global levels related to preventive treatment strategies recommended by the World Health Organization.