Mahalia Desruisseaux, MD, associate professor of medicine (infectious diseases), received the Bailey K. Ashford Medal for her work in cerebral malaria.
The Ashford Medal is awarded by the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH) each year to a mid-career individual for her work in tropical medicine.
Desruisseaux heads the Desruisseaux laboratory, which focuses on the brain microvascular and neural cell responses to parasitic infections that lead to debilitating neurological sequelae and mortality. She has also served as mentor to new generations of parasitologists and physician scientists and has conducted clinical research in cerebral malaria in Uganda and Malawi.
“One thing that’s been really striking to me is the fact that in malaria-endemic countries, children who contract the parasite and survive often have profound neurological deficits,” says Desruisseaux. “These are often low-income countries, where for individuals who have lower socioeconomic status, education levels are not so high. And now to add these effects from the parasite, you have an additional setback which causes you to have a learning impairment.”
It was this larger socio-economic implication of cerebral malaria that sparked Desruisseaux’s interest in the parasite.
But like many medical professionals, Desruisseaux’s research was put on hold in March with the rise of COVID-19.
“Since March when the lab shut down, we have really focused on COVID-19 and doing COVID-19 research,” says Desruisseaux.
But the interruption has proven rather fruitful.
“I was able to find some parallels between COVID-19 and my prior research,” says Desruisseaux. “Some of the mechanisms of disease in malaria are similar to what we’re seeing with COVID-19. So I was really glad to see some of those parallels.”
One parallel Desruisseaux found between cerebral malaria and COVID-19 concerns the damage both pathogens cause to endothelial cells.
“Looking forward, I’m interested in finding commonalties in different pathogens and how they affect the endothelium,” says Desruisseaux. “And how that then results in damage to different organs.”
Yale’s Section of Infectious Diseases is an international leader in patient care, research, and education for infectious diseases. Learn more about their work at Infectious Diseases.