Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research
The primary goal of the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR) is to conduct research into the health problems of the people of Papua New Guinea. The Institute conducts its work from laboratory and office complexes in Goroka, Madang and Maprik, with a smaller branch in Wewak.
MalariaGEN's partners are the Entomology Unit in Madang. With its own laboratories, offices, field equipment store and insectary, the Madang site is well equipped. Its major activities have been to study mosquito vectors of malaria, filariasis and arbovirus infections. The PNGIMR has worked closely with Swansea University and the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford.
People
- Pascal Michon (MalariaGEN Investigator)
- Ivo Mueller (MalariaGEN Investigator)
- John Reeder (MalariaGEN Investigator)
- Laurens Manning (MalariaGEN Data Fellow)
- Moses Laman (MalariaGEN Researcher)
- Enmoore Lin (previous MalariaGEN Data Fellow)
How the team is contributing to MalariaGEN
The team at PNGIMR are recruiting children with severe malaria and ethnically matched controls for Consortial Project 1. They are also participating in Consortial Project 3.
For Consortial Project 1 Stephen Allen's group at Swansea University have contributed 170 cases and controls. In addition, 80 cases and controls were included from a drug trial conducted at Modilon Hospital in 2003 (Harin Karunajeewa, Reeder et al. 2006). For MalariaGEN, 165 new severe malaria cases and matched community controls were collected and have arrived in Oxford. These were recruited through inpatients at the Modilon hospital and children attending outpatient clinics or rural health centres.
The rugged terrain and deteriorating infrastructure in Papua New Guinea have made travelling to rural clinics to collect community control samples extremely challenging. There are also 800 distinct languages so explaining scientific concepts to obtain valid informed consent from local communities has been complex. The team have responded to this by developing a process of continuous engagement with communities to raise awareness about the project and are participating in research into seeking consent to genomic research.
Four sets of 30-35 family trios have been collected for Consortial Project 3 from the North coast of Madang, East Sepik province, Milne Bay province and East New Britain province.