Join PATH Virtually at the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene 2020 Conference

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, leaders from around the world gather to share the latest evidence for advancing global health.

In Mazambuka General Hospital maternity ward, nurse Rachel Muzezewa writes on a form, with beds and a woman behind her. Photo: PATH/Gabe Bienczycki.

In Mazabuka General Hospital maternity ward, nurse Rachel Muzezewa writes on a form, with beds and a woman behind her. Photo: PATH/Gabe Bienczycki.

PATH is a global organization that works to accelerate health equity by bringing together public institutions, businesses, social enterprises, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing health challenges. With expertise in science, health, economics, technology, advocacy, and dozens of other specialties, PATH develops and scales solutions—including vaccines, drugs, devices, diagnostics, and innovative approaches to strengthening health systems worldwide.

The American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting presents an excellent opportunity for the global health community to come together virtually and advance our understanding of what it will take to not only fight disease, but build strong, more resilient, and sustainable health systems globally.

In more than 20 presentations and panels, PATH staff will share key findings on our work in malaria control and elimination efforts, vaccines, and public health insights from around the world. See a full list of our activities below.

Follow the conversation online at #Tropmed2020 or via @PATHTweets.

Scientific and Symposium Sessions

Using malaria antigen data and machine learning models to classify malaria infections and stratify villages by prevalence level

Date & time: Nov 18, 1:45 p.m. ET
Presenters: Hannah Slater, PATH; Ihn Kyung Jang, PATH; Allison Golden, PATH; Francois Nosten, Mahidol University; Jordi Landier, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development; Gonzalo J. Domingo, PATH
Description: Innovative approaches must be taken for malaria-endemic countries with low transmission to achieve elimination. PCR is a commonly used tool in research settings to measure prevalence in areas approaching elimination, but it is a time-intensive, nonstandard process that requires access to a well-equipped laboratory and trained technicians—not feasible in many elimination settings. We propose as an alternative, the Quansys Biosciences Q-Plex™ Human Malaria Array (4-plex), which quantifies three malaria antigens and a human inflammatory biomarker. Coupled with a machine learning (ML) model, we leveraged data generated using the Q-Plex assay to predict the infection status and parasite species of blood samples and compared results against PCR-confirmed data.

Monoclonal Antibodies to Prevent Malaria Infection and Transmission - From Antibody Identification

Date & time: Nov 18, 1:45 p.m. ET
Presenters: Teun Bousema, RUMC; Robert Seder, NIH/NIAID; Joshua Tan, NIH/NIAID; Camila Coelho, NIH/NIAID; Saskia van der Boor, RUMC
Description: This symposium will move beyond pre-clinical data and present novel results from two of the first ever clinical trials with anti-malaria mAbs in human volunteers. These trials evaluated the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of CIS43LS, a mAb targeting a conserved epitope at the junction of the N- and repeat regions of the pre-erythrocytic PfCSP antigen with an LS mutation to increase half-life, and TB31F, a mAb targeting a conserved epitope on the gamete protein Pfs48/45. CIS43LS has been adapted using site-directed mutagenesis to increase product half-life in plasma, which will be critical for optimizing its use. TB31F is a humanized version of 45.1, the most potent transmission blocking mAb for P. falciparum described to date. In addition to these clinical trial results, novel findings from two independent groups that use cutting-edge approaches to identify novel mAbs from naturally exposed or vaccinated populations will be presented. The overall goals of the symposium are i) to provide the first data on the safety, pharmacokinetics and protective efficacy to illustrate how the scientific investigation on mAbs, a much-debated topic in malaria research, has moved from an attractive concept to clinical testing; ii) to discuss critical scientific insights into the mechanisms of efficacy and the deployability of mAbs for future clinical use.

Evidence to action: Accelerating introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccines in Africa

Date & time: Nov 18, 1:45 p.m. ET
Presenters: Priyanka Patel, Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust; Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; Octavie Lunguya, University of Kinasha; Phionah Atuhebwe, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa
Description: Vaccination is a promising strategy to reduce morbidity and mortality caused by typhoid. In March 2018, the World Health Organization recommended the introduction of the prequalified typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) for infants and children beginning at six months of age in endemic countries. As most of the supporting data that informed this recommendation was generated in Asia, understanding the performance of TCV in Africa is critical to driving country introduction decisions. This symposium will present data from the first clinical trial of TCV in Africa, including safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness in Malawi; discuss the status of planned studies in Ghana and surveillance data in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and understand the importance of these data to regional and country policymakers for TCV introduction.

Safety and immunogenicity of coadministration of meningococcal type A vaccine with typhoid conjugate vaccine in healthy children 15–23 months of age in Burkina Faso

Date & time: Nov 18, 1:45 p.m. ET
Presenters: Nouhoun Barry, Groupe de Recherche Action en Santé (GRAS); Sodiomon Sirima, GRAS; Mohamadou Siribié, GRAS; Alfred Tiono, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore (UMB); Issa Nébié Ouédraogo UMB; Shrimati Datta, UMB; Kathleen Neuzil, UMB; Matthew Laurens, UMB
Description: The World Health Organization (WHO) recently prequalified a single-dose typhoid conjugate vaccine for use in infants as young as six months of age. The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts recommended additional studies of the typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) coadministered with routine childhood vaccines in typhoid-endemic areas. This session will present the results of a clinical study conducted in Burkina Faso evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of the prequalified TCV when coadministered with meningococcal A vaccine in young children.

Accelerating new tools for radical cure of vivax malaria from clinical and operational research to policy

Date & time: Nov 18, 3:45 p.m. ET
Presenters: Jimee Hwang, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Carolyn Lynch, Medicines for Malaria Ventures; Marcus Lacerda, Fiocruz Amazônia/Tropical Medicine Foundation; Michael White, Institute Pastur; Allison Golden, PATH; Daniel Yilma, Jimma University; Wint Phyo Than, Vector Borne Disease Control Program, Myanmar
Description: Tafenoquine, a single-dose radical cure treatment, and new diagnostics could transform treatment and elimination prospects for P. vivax malaria. Widespread use of tafenoquine depends on our ability to identify all cases of P. vivax malaria and safely screen patients’ glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) enzyme activity. The potential of this expanded access will only be realized when accurate, reliable point-of-care (POC) malaria and G6PD testing is concurrently adopted in vivax-endemic settings. This symposium will explore the modeling, clinical, and operational research platforms that have been established to generate the tools and data needed to bridge the gap between current P. vivax case management practices and future elimination goals.

Using the data you have: Innovative methods to enhance vector control evaluation and decision-making

Date & time: Nov 18, 3:45 p.m. ET
Presenters: Larry Slutsker, PATH; Jules Mihigo, US President’s Malaria Initiative, Mali; Dorothy Echodu, Pilgrim Africa; Elli Sherrard-Smith, Imperial College London; Molly Robertson, PATH
Description: Insights on the effectiveness of vector control interventions come from many sources like routine data, controlled trials, and modeling. This symposium will present three scenarios across five countries to illustrate how multiple methodologies of assessing impact can help provide information for decision-making. The first presenter will discuss the use of routine data to conduct ongoing, annual evaluations of indoor residual spraying (IRS) impact in Mali. The second presenter will illustrate how routine data was paired with modeling to optimize the timing of multiple interventions. The third presenter will discuss how models can be used to assist in decisions for insecticide-treated net placement and how collecting routine data can help validate and strengthen the models. The final presenter will look broadly across the various methods of using existing data to assess the effectiveness of vector control interventions, identify challenges, and propose opportunities for strengthening these approaches.

Field effectiveness of a typhoid conjugate vaccine – Navi Mumbai (India), 2018–2020

Date & time: Nov 18, 3:45 p.m. ET
Presenters: Kashmira Date, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Pauline Harvey, World Health Organization (WHO) India Country Office; Pankaj Bhatnagar, WHO India Country Office; Qian An, CDC: Jason Andrews, Stanford University; Rahul Shimpi, WHO India Country Office; Pradeep Haldar, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; Niniya Jayaprasad, WHO India Country Office; Arun Katkar, WHO India Country Office; Abhishek Kunwar, WHO India Country Office; Kirsten Fagerli, CDC; Lily Horng, Stanford University; Vijay Yewale, Dr. Yewale Multispecialty Hospital; Chenhua Zhang, CDC; Debjit Chakraborty, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases; Priyanka Borhade, WHO India Country Office; Chris Leboa, Stanford University; Shanta Dutta, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases; Stephen Luby, Stanford University
Description: Rising antimicrobial resistance among strains of Salmonella Typhi calls for urgent prevention and control efforts in low- and middle-income countries with a high typhoid burden. A typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), licensed in India since 2013, was prequalified by the World Health Organization in 2017 and supported by Gavi, but data on field effectiveness of the vaccine in endemic countries are limited. In 2018, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), a local government body in India, introduced single-dose TCV into its immunization program, targeting children aged 9 months to 14 years in 11 of 22 subareas during July–August 2018 (phase 1 campaign). Subareas were grouped into strata and randomly selected for two phased campaigns. We estimated vaccine effectiveness using a case-control study during November 2018–March 2020. This study provides an early estimate of TCV field effectiveness from a large public-sector vaccine introduction.

The RTS,S malaria vaccine pilot implementation in Africa: Generating data for decision-making

Date & time: Nov 19, 10:45 a.m. ET
Presenters: Mary Hamel, World Health Organization (WHO); Rose Jalang’o, Kenya Ministry of Health; Sam Akech, KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Programme; Kwaku Poku Asante, Kintampo Health Research Centre; Nicola Desmond, Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme; Paul Milligan, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Description: The RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine was shown to significantly reduce malaria when given to children from 5 months of age in 4 vaccine doses. The incidence of malaria in young children was reduced by 39% over 4 years in a large Phase 3 trial that ended in 2014. The vaccine has received a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and was reviewed by World Health Organization (WHO) expert advisory bodies, which recommended pilot implementation to answer outstanding questions about the vaccine’s public health use. The Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP), coordinated by WHO, comprises the introduction of the vaccine by the ministries of health in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi, through their respective routine childhood vaccination services, and a concurrent evaluation of implementation experience and evidence from each of the countries. The ministries are introducing the vaccine in a phased manner, in areas that were selected randomly at the programme start, and they will later consider expanding vaccination to other parts of their countries.

Spatial Intelligence to Optimize Public Health Interventions

Date & time: Nov 19, 1:00 p.m. ET
Presenters: Anna Winters, Akros; Roly Gosling, University of California San Francisco; Kafula Silumbe, PATH; Olatunde Adesoro, Malaria Consortium; Olena Borkovska, Colombia University; Hugh Sturrock, Locational
Description: If disease was uniform across populations, and populations were spread evenly across space, interventions would be easy to plan. But we know this is not the case; more often than not, distribution of disease is heterogeneous and service delivery is challenging, particularly in countries with limited address systems and rural population distribution. The global health community can now access remotely sensed data and satellite imagery to understand distribution of population and built structures. When these tools are smartly combined with algorithms and geotechnology, field-based service delivery of life-saving health campaigns becomes more precise, targeted and impactful. At the nexus of these powerful areas is the field of ‘spatial intelligence'. This symposium will share case studies which show how ‘spatial intelligence’ is pushing the frontier of public health through the use of geo-technology to ensure equitable health service delivery.

A pilot study to evaluate the effect of new generations of insecticide-treated nets (PBO, IG2) on malaria morbidity in three health districts in Burkina Faso: Preliminary results of the baseline cross-sectional survey

Date & time: Nov 19, 5:00 p.m. ET
Presenter: Dr. Kangoye David, Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme
Description: World Health Organization (WHO) targets for 2030 include a 90% reduction in malaria morbidity and mortality compared to the 2015 baseline. However, achievement of these goals is threatened by the emergence of resistance in the parasite to antimalarial drugs and in the vector to insecticides. To overcome vector resistance, several new insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) with new insecticide formulations and evidence of laboratory and experimental hut efficacy have been prequalified by WHO. As part of the New Nets Project (funded by a partnership between Unitaid and the Global Fund), observational studies are accompanying the piloted Interceptor® G2 ITN (IG2, BASF) rollout in order to collect data on their entomological and epidemiological impact and on anthropological factors that influence their uptake and usage.

Community perception of the use of new-generation impregnated mosquito nets in rural areas in the health districts of Banfora, Orodara, and Gaoua in Burkina Faso: Baseline data

Date & time: Nov 19, 5:00 p.m. ET
Presenter: Dr. Kagone Moubassira, Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme
Description: As part of the New Nets Project (funded by a partnership between Unitaid and the Global Fund), observational studies are accompanying the piloted Interceptor G2® (IG2, BASF) bednet rollout in order to collect data on their entomological and epidemiological impact and on anthropological factors that influence their uptake and usage. Anthropological data collection was conducted in three health districts: Banfora, Orodara, and Gaoua, Burkina Faso, from July to September 2019. We used a combination of in-depth interviews, structured observations, participant observations, and focus groups discussions. Taking community perceptions into account when distributing insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) will be critical to improving effective usage and reducing malaria morbidity and mortality.