University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’

Italy

 

The Section on Parasitology within the Department of Public Health of the University of Rome, known as 'La Sapienza', has gained an international reputation in the fields of cytogenetics, population genetics, ecology and ethnology of malaria vectors, and the genetics of susceptibility to malaria.

The department works closely with colleagues at the Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme (CNRFP) in Burkina Faso to study the genetic epidemiology of susceptibility and resistance to Plasmodium falciparum malaria. In particular they are interested in the mechanisms by which the parasite causes the disease and the clinical features of severe malaria.

People:

• David Modiano (MalariaGEN Investigator)
• Valentina Mangano (MalariaGEN Researcher)
• Federica Verra
• Germana Bancone
• Pamela Avellino

How the team are contributing to MalariaGEN

The University of Rome, together with CNRFP, is recruiting samples for Consortial Project 1, Consortial Project 2 and Consortial Project 3.

Around 1000 severe malaria cases were recruited for Consortial Project 1 from the Mossi ethnic group in three hospitals of Ouagadougou, the capital town of Burkina Faso. To match these, 1000 controls were recruited from the same ethic group during two malaria cross-sectional surveys conducted in four villages in the Balonghin area of the country.

Within Consortial Project 2, longitudinal and cross-sectional surveys are being completed in four villages around Ouagadougou. By October 2008 the team had collected over 2200 DNA samples and matched serum samples.

31 Fulani trios and 90 unrelated Mossi samples have been recruited for Consortial Project 3.