AUDREY ODOM, MD, PhD
From curiosity to breakthroughs in understanding malaria Malaria causes a tremendous amount of global suffering. More than 500 million people become ill with malaria every year and more than one million die. Most of these deaths are in young children under the age of 5. Most severe malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium falciparum. Because the parasite has become resistant to commonly used drugs, such as chloroquine, new drugs need to be added to the development pipeline. Audrey Odom, MD, PhD, pediatrics, received a CDI faculty scholar award in 2009 to examine the route by which the malaria parasite generates isoprenoids. This group of compounds has many important jobs within the cell, and disruption of this pathway will kill the parasite. Soon, Dr. Odom and her colleagues found one way the malaria parasite becomes resistant to fosmidomycin, an antimalarial drug in clinical trials. The lab has received multiple NIH grants stemming from this work. Her work quickly caught the attention of the Doris Duke Foundation, which awarded her their
8
Most severe malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium falciparum. Because the parasite has become resistant to commonly used drugs, such as chloroquine, new drugs need to be added to the development pipeline.
prestigious Clinical Scientist Development Award. The award came with $486,000 to continue her discoveries. Additional breakthroughs have followed. Dr. Odom and her colleagues recently found that when Plasmodium falciparum infects red blood cells, it produces lemon-scented chemicals that may lure mosquitos to their host. It remains to be determined whether that makes a difference in the success of the parasite. Fortunately, a new five-year $500,000 award from the prestigious Burroughs Wellcome Fund will help her find out.
•
Rendering of the release of malaria parasites from a red blood cell