Professor Lars Hviid

Country: Demark

Institution: University of Copenhagen

Research Areas: Plasmodium falciparum malaria immunity and pathogenesis

Lab Website: https://cmp.ku.dk/research/teamsurface

Summary of your lab’s research (Max 200 words):

The research in my lab is focused on the pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and on naturally acquired immunity to the parasites causing it. For more than a decade, the main focus has been on the parasite antigen family PfEMP1, which is crucial in both these processes. The PfEMP1 proteins are expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes (IEs), where they mediate IE adhesion to endothelial host receptors. The two main lines of investigation in the last five years have been severe malaria in children (SM) and placental malaria (PM). Finally, I have recently renewed my research interest in the Vδ1⁺ γδ T-cell subset, which is markedly expanded in the circulation of healthy, P. falciparum-exposed individuals, in malaria patients, and in patients with endemic Burkitt lymphoma, which is an aggressive tumor of malaria-exposed children in Africa.