SCRIPT (MALARIA) STUDY version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Search for Correlates of Recovery in the Patient Transcriptome (SCRIPT) (Malaria) Study
IRAS ID
303352
Contact name
Aubrey Cunnington
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 3 days
Research summary
Malaria is an important disease that sadly causes the death of more than 400,000 people (mainly young children) every year. One way to reduce the number of deaths may be to create new medicines that target the human body to help it recover from malaria (so-called ‘adjunctive therapies’), to be given alongside established medicines that target the malaria parasite. Previous research, which focused on understanding the development of severe disease, has not resulted in any successful adjunctive therapies for malaria. However, by focusing instead on understanding the underlying mechanisms of recovery, we hope to discover targets for future adjunctive therapies.
Our research question is: ‘Which aspects of human biology play an important role in recovery from malaria?’ To answer this, we aim to identify genes for which the level of gene activity reflects the patient’s rate of recovery. This approach may reveal new targets for adjunctive therapies.
This is an 'observational cohort study', meaning we will recruit a group of patients and collect blood samples and information, but there will be no other change to their clinical care. We will aim to recruit 240 people, of all ages, who have been diagnosed with malaria at selected hospitals in London. We will collect up to four research blood samples over the 14 days following malaria diagnosis. We will also collect information from the patient, their clinical team, and the clinical notes. The research blood samples will be collected at the same time as clinical samples, so there will be no extra procedures for the patient. The amount of blood collected will be small, so this should not make any difference to the well-being of the patient. This study will last four years and is funded by The Imperial 4i Clinician Scientist Training Programme (which is primarily funded by The Wellcome Trust)
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/NE/0005
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jan 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion