Research - Our Team

During his career as a pediatrician, with special interest in infectious disease epidemiology and public health, he has combined clinical work with biomedical research in LMICs. He has been focused in the identification of biomarkers, differential diagnosis and treatment of uncomplicated and severe malaria in children. Then, he has been part of different clinical of new therapeutics tools for malaria in the last years. Furthermore, he has been involved in international collaborations for the design, implementation and evaluation of different clinical and epidemiological studies in Southern Mozambique, including biomarkers characterization in malarial disease.

In addition, he has participated in the development and implementation of a minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) methodology to better understand the underlying pathophysiology and mechanisms leading to death in resource-constrained settings.  He has also been interested in technological innovation for global health and has participated in different studies to validate and develop diagnostic and prognosis devices for pediatric infectious diseases. 

Lines of research

• Clinical development of treatment and prevention tools for Malaria 
• Differential diagnosis of malaria and other common pediatric infections 
• Mortality surveillance and cause of death ascertainment in low-income settings 
  Validation and testing of innovative technologies for global health applied to low-income settings

Main publications

• Varo R, Crowley VM, Sitoe A, Madrid L, Serghides L, Bila R, Mucavele H, Mayor A, Bassat Q, Kain KC. Safety and tolerability of adjunctive rosiglitazone treatment for children with uncomplicated malaria. Malar J. 2017 May 23;16(1):215. 
• Varo R, Quintó L, Sitoe A, Madrid L, Acácio S, Vitorino P, Valente AM, Mayor A, Camprubí D, Muñoz J, Bambo G, Macete E, Menéndez C, Alonso PL, Aide P, Bassat Q. Post-malarial anemia in Mozambican children treated with quinine or artesunate: A retrospective observational study. Int J Infect Dis. 2020 Jul;96:655-662. 
• Varo R, Crowley VM, Sitoe A, Madrid L, Serghides L, Kain KC, Bassat Q. Adjunctive therapy for severe malaria: a review and critical appraisal. Malar J. 2018 Jan 24;17(1):47. 
• Bassat Q, Varo R, Hurtado JC, Marimon L, Ferrando M, Ismail MR, Carrilho C, Fernandes F, Castro P, Maixenchs M, Rodrigo-Calvo MT, Guerrero J, Martínez A, Lacerda MVG, Mandomando I, Menéndez C, Martinez MJ, Ordi J, Rakislova N. Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling as an Alternative to Complete Diagnostic Autopsies in the Context of Epidemic Outbreaks and Pandemics: The Example of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Dec 15;73(Suppl_5):S472-S479. 
• Blau DM, Baillie VL, Els T, Mahtab S, Mutevedzi P, Keita AM, Kotloff KL, Mehta A, Sow SO, Tapia MD, Tippett Barr BA, Oluoch BO, Onyango C, Revathi G, Verani JR, Abayneh M, Assefa N, Madrid L, Oundo JO, Scott JAG, Bassat Q, Mandomando I, Sitoe A, Valente M, Varo R, Bassey IA, Cain CJ, Jambai A, Ogbuanu I, Ojulong J, Alam M, El Arifeen S, Gurley ES, Rahman A, Rahman M, Waller JL, Dewey B, Breiman RF, Whitney CG, Madhi SA; CHAMPS Consortium. Deaths Attributed to Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Young Children in High-Mortality Rate Settings: Report from Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS). Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Sep 2;73(Suppl_3):S218-S228.