Full Steam Ahead for MESA malERA Refresh

In consultation with the community, in June MESA launched a consultative process to update the malaria eradication research and development agenda (malERA Refresh), in order to examine the scientific progress made towards the elimination and eradication of malaria and update the research agenda. 

The process is being led by malaria experts Regina Rabinovich (ISGlobal/Harvard), Dyann Wirth (Harvard), Marcel Tanner (Swiss TPH) and Pedro Alonso (WHO) and consists of six expert panels that are working intensely in order to assess the progress made, examine current hypothesis and identify priority research areas. For this, they are conducting 6 panel meetings that will take place between June and December in different cities (Boston, Basel, Washington DC, London, Barcelona) with around 150 international experts from academia, product development partnerships, malaria-endemic countries, WHO, industry and funders. Other global health stakeholders such as CDC, EDCTP, the European Commission and NGOs are also actively engaged, and the MESA alliance will be reaching out to the community during the next ASTMH congress.  In addition, the wider community can contribute with inputs on the past, present and future of malaria research through the MESA website.

The final result of the malERA consultative process will be a scientific publication in 2016 that will set the basis for the new research priorities over the next 5 to 10 years. As Dr. Pedro Alonso highlighted during a stakeholder engagement in Basel, "reviewing the scientific progress made and identifying new research priorities is critical to address challenges such as malaria outbreaks and insecticide resistance and to achieve the global targets for malaria elimination".

MESA is an alliance committed to advancing the science of malaria eradication for impact. It is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its Secretariat is based at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.