Rapid Sampling, Pooling and Targeted Deep Sequencing for Effective Malaria Molecular Surveillance

Abstract

The “Pooling Project” is an innovative malaria molecular surveillance (MMS) system which combines sampling, pooling and next generation sequencing to effectively monitor antimalarial resistance at a reduced cost. This project is a collaborative effort between the Noguchi memorial institute for medical research (NMIMR), the Ghana National malaria elimination program (NMEP) and supported by the Bailey lab-Brown University. The aim of the project is to ultimately provide near real-time access to actionable molecular surveillance data to improve the MMS system of Ghana. This is done through the rapid collection of blood samples from malaria patients by clinical staff as a preserved liquid sample followed by laboratory pooling, and next-generation sequencing. Ten NMEP sites are currently involved in this study and genotyping of samples is done in NMIMR with support from collaborators in Brown university, Bailey lab. Funding for this project is from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.