The Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research (LMVR) in cooperation with scientists at the National School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Odonto-Stomatology (FMPOS) of Mali conducts research at the Malaria Research and Training Center on the campus of the National School of Medicine of Mali and at the Faculty of Science and Technology in Bamako. The goals of these research programs are several. The primary goal is to develop and sustain a center of research excellance in Africa where the work is planned, directed and executed in close collaboration with African scientists. This goal has been essentially achieved and the MRTC is viewed as a model for research centers in developing countries. ? ? A training program for MRTC staff continues to provide much needed expertise in all areas of biology tropical medicine, medical entomology and epidemiology with emphasis on molecular biology and immunology. Since its establishment in 1989, the NIAID has facilitated the graduate training of Malian staff at universities in the US and Europe. The LMVR program has research with Malian doctorates who have received additional PhD degrees at Tulane University (3), The University of Notre Dame (2), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1) and Oxford University (1). Several staff have received doctorates from the University of Bamako in cooperation and training from collaborators from the NIH and several US Universities.? ? Studies at the MRTC are focused on two main areas of emphasis; 1) The evaluation of and application of molecular probes developed in the LMVR which use PCR-based methodologies to detect the presence of genes in malaria parasites coding for resistance to anti-malarial drugs. Tests are now in place for the rapid detection of parasites resistant to chloroquine, pyrimethamine, proguanil and Fansidar. 2) Studies in Kangaba-Kela have focused on the role of various hemoglobin mutations in the human erythrocyte including Hemoglobins F, S and C in affecting the pathology of the disease. Studies in Kenieroba region are attempting to determine genetic and immunological predisposition to severe and complicated malaria.? ? The LMVR program on Leishmaniasis and its sandfly vectors is designed to describe the essentially unexamined epidemiology of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Mali. Based at the MRTC and various field sites, this program has examined the epidemiology of the diseseas and the ecology of the sandfly vector.? ? The LMVR has expanded its research program on the ecology of anopheline malaria vectors in Mali with emphasis on the determination of physiological and behavioral factors which impact on the genetic isolation of the various chromosomal forms of the more important vectors. Mating behavior and swarming of male mosquitoes is being examined as a pre-zygotic mechanism for genetic isolation of various forms of Anopheles gambiae in Mali
