16/06/2026
In an important discovery for the next generation of malaria vaccines, Pembroke Lecturer Dr Barney Williams and other Oxford researchers have identified how antibodies can be over 90% effective at preventing malaria parasites from growing.
Malaria remains one of the deadliest diseases in low-income countries. In 2024 it killed more than 600,000 people, mainly young African children. While two vaccines are already recommended by the World Health Organisation, they target the earlier liver-stage of infection. This new research, published in Immunity, will support the development of new vaccines as a second line of defence and to stop the parasite once it reaches red blood cells, where the illness occurs.
Dr Barney Williams explained: "Most vaccine research has focused on identifying individual antibodies that can strongly neutralise a pathogen. What we found here is different: the strongest protection comes from antibodies working together in a coordinated way."
Read more at the link in the comments.