Professor James Beeson

Country: Australia

Institution: Burnet Institute

Research Areas: Malaria, Maternal and child health (infections, poor nutrition, child growth failure)

Lab Website: www.burnet.edu.au/working_groups

Prof. Beeson has worked in research on malaria in Africa and Asia for 20 years, including research in Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Malawi and Thailand.  The major focus of his malaria research is aimed at understanding the targets and mechanisms of protective immunity to malaria in humans, and how protective immunity is acquired and maintained, and using this knowledge to advance vaccine development and evaluation. This includes studies of naturally-acquired immunity and immune responses induced by vaccines in clinical trials. This research currently involves clinical and population studies in Papua New Guinea, Africa and Asia.

His work on maternal and child health is primarily conducted in Papua New Guinea with the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Program. This research program is focussed on developing and testing better ways to provide interventions of proven effectiveness to communities that currently lack access, defining the major disease burdens that contribute to maternal and infant mortality (including infections, anaemia, and malnutrition), and developing new and more effective interventions to improve maternal and child health.