Malaria remains one of the most significant global public health challenges, with more than 200 million clinical cases worldwide each year. The lack of an effective licensed vaccine and the continual emergence of drug-resistant malaria parasites emphasizes the need for new control and prevention strategies. This need for innovation has become even more apparent with the disruption of global malaria control programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and potential reversal of gains made over the last few decades. Generation of fundamental knowledge lies at the heart of developing new tools and innovations for malaria intervention. The malaria research community has a long history of being a highly collaborative field, reliant on diverse technologies, sharing of resources and dissemination of biological advances made. Accessibility and timely sharing of these advances through the establishment of new collaborations is therefore vital for the translation of new ideas into public health impact. 

The 17th BioMalPar conference follows the success of previous years, building on the foundations of the EU-funded Networks of Excellence EviMalaR and BioMalPar that, for one and a half decades, have brought together malaria researchers from around the world to present and share recent ground-breaking findings on fundamental malaria research in an integrated and highly collaborative environment. This year’s conference will address fundamental questions on the biology of the malaria parasite, its vector, the immune response of the host, the disease that it causes, and the latest technological approaches. In keeping with the traditions of BioMalPar and EviMalaR, the conference will emphasise training and networking, with a focus on allowing speaking opportunities for early career researchers. 

Session Topics

• Host-parasite interactions
• Parasite biology
• Immunology and vaccinology
• Epidemiology and clinical malaria
• Vector biology and transmission
• Systems biology
• Emerging challenges and new tools