Sekou Sissoko is a young assistant researcher at MRTC who is holder of a PharmD from University of Science, Techniques and Technology of Bamako (USTTB), Mali. As part of his PharmD thesis he investigated Pf3d7_1343700 kelch propeller polymorphisms and artemisinin efficacy in Mali. He has been involved in many aspects of malaria research. He co-conducted field and laboratory studies to explore how mutation events in the genome of malaria parasites relate to the outcome of treatment and monitoring of artemisinin efficacy.

As DELGEME MSc fellow he is currently studying Bioinformatics-Biomathematics in University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar (UCAD). He has presented in many scientific conferences. He will visit MRC Unit The Gambia in the context of his Science and Language Mobility grant (SLM).

Project

Malaria is a major problem of public health in Africa. Artemisinin combination therapies (ACT) are the first line treatment of uncomplicated malaria in endemic countries. Spread of artemisinin resistance in Southeast Asia is a threat for malaria elimination. Sekou Sissoko will work on Plasmodium falciparum polyclonal infection dynamic Bioinformatic analysis after artemisinin treatment in Mali. During six months in MRC Unit The Gambia he will sequence around 400 samples collected during a prospective study which was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of artesunate monotherapy in Bougoula-Hameau and Faladje and analyse sequencing data using a bioinformatic tool. The field study was consisted to treat patients with uncomplicated malaria with artesunate for 7 days and followed for 28 days. Parasitaemia was evaluated every 8 hours until three consecutive slides were negative. Bougoula-Hameau is a peri-urban village which is located 5 km East of Sikasso (375 km southeast of Bamako), Faladje is a village located at 80 km northwest from Bamako. Malaria transmission is hyperendemic in the booth villages. Dry blood spot collected at four time point (H0, H8, H16, H24) will be used. Two gene targets, Pf-csp and Pf-ama1, will be selected as markers for parasite strain typing and Pf-k13, Pf-mdr1, Pf-crt will be selected because known polymorphisms of these genes confer drug resistance. So, barcoded amplicons of the genes targets will be generated by PCR multiplex which will subsequently be sequenced on Illumina MiSeq platform. This research will allow to provide insights into the role of polyclonal infection in artemisinin sensitivity.