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CCOAT serves to bring together the expertise of clinical and laboratory researchers, working together to improve malaria treatment. Our strong track record of successful malaria research initiatives has led to our being selected to lead the Pharmacology module of the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network and as one of three South African Medical Research Council Collaborating Centres for Malaria Research. |
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CCOAT has conducted multidisciplinary research in Africa since the late 1990s. Our focus is on research that is essential for improving the availability, dosing and selection of antimalarial drugs.Such research allows for the advancement of national, regional and global malaria elimination goals. We contribute substantially to the evaluation of changes in malaria treatment policy, to the development of new antimalarials, and to dose optimisation (working out how much of the medicine needs to be given in vulnerable populations like young children or pregnant women or people with other diseases like HIV/AIDS, or malnutrition). We also conduct methodological research to help ensure malaria research is conducted in the best way. |
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Most of the world's malaria deaths occur in Africa and in vulnerable populations, yet most malaria research is led by academics from Europe and North America, and most early drug development studies are conducted in non-African populations. Our group aims to lead research that can improve the better treatment of malaria in Africa, and globally. Together with vector control, better treatments will contribute to the control and eventual elimination of malaria. Drug (and insecticide) resistance are the main obstacles to malaria control to elimination, which South Africa aims optimistically to achieve by 2018. Over the past 2 - 5 years, we have extended our partnerships and collaborations and this has culminated in the formation of the UCT MRC Collaborating Centre for Optimising Antimalarial Therapy (CCOAT, linking drug discovery by UCT's H3-D initative, with clinical drug development and field studies aimed at informing national and global malaria treatment guidelines. |