The MARCAD consortium which seeks to train African scientists toward building a critical mass for the control and the elimination of malaria, has recently awarded Dr Abdullahi Ahmad with a 4 year PhD Fellowship to conduct his research on ‘Understanding the Role of Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum Infections and Gametocyte Carriage in Maintaining Malaria Transmission’. Dr Ahmad holds a medical degree, a diploma in tropical medicine and public health and an MSc in tropical medicine and disease control. He previously took part in the clinical development of the most advanced candidate malaria vaccine to date (RTS,S) during a World Health Organisation Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR) career development fellowship with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals.

Dr Ahmad is passionate about research focusing on the development and evaluation of novel interventions for the control and elimination of malaria and is keen on further contributing to the quest for answers to help control and eliminate malaria. He is confident that his PhD work will narrow an important knowledge gap and generate more research questions relevant for malaria elimination. He will be supervised by Professor Umberto D’Alessandro, Dr Jane Achan and Professor Chris Drakeley, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.