Professor Gordon Awandare

Country: Ghana

Institution: West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, University of Ghana

Research Areas: Malaria parasite biology, immunology and pathogenesis

Lab Website: www.waccbip.org

The research group focuses on the biology and pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, including providing a better understanding of host immune responses and exploitation of parasite invasion mechanisms for vaccine development. The research group is investigating the impact of varying transmission intensity on innate and adaptive responses as well as parasite diversity and signatures of selection. The lab also studies the molecular mechanisms through which malaria parasites maintain their ability to invade red blood cells in semi-immune individuals residing in highly-endemic areas of Ghana.  There is also work on characterizing the etiology of febrile illnesses and understanding the genetic basis of both infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases.  Lab applications employed include fluorescent microscopy, confocal microscopy, high through-put cytokines and antibody assays, cell culture and invasion assays, multi-color flow cytometry, quantitative real time PCR, protein expression and characterization, and high-performance computing for genomics.