Mostafa Elfawal, Postdoctoral Research Associate, works with Stephen Rich on a novel whole plant based artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) that is effective in killing malaria parasites and actually slows the rate of evolution of parasite drug resistance.
Recently, Dr. Rich's lab reported on a new way to treat malaria using a whole plant therapy. The plant, Artemisia annua, is the one from which the drug artemisinin is derived. But the extraction of the drug from the plant is expensive and limits the supply and availability of drug. Dr. Rich's team also demonstrated that the plant itself kills malaria parasites, and it does so better than the drug.
For more information on research projects underway in Dr. Rich's lab please visit the Laboratory of Medical Zoology's web site.
Department of Microbiology