KEMRI/CDC, the Ministry of Health, and other partners to conduct research and develop evidence-based policy and programs that reduce the burden of malaria in Kenya. Research focuses on vaccine efficacy, preventing malaria in pregnancy, reducing transmission, and measuring the percentage of people who have malaria. Some of the Malaria Research areas are as follows:

Malaria Vaccine Study
KEMRI/CDC, the MOH and other partners are conducting a study on an experimental malaria vaccine. The study is designed to confirm findings from Mozambique that showed a similar vaccine prevented severe malaria in young children. The study will be carried out in three sites in Kenya and seven other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. KEMRI/CDC will carry out the trial in Karemo division in Siaya District where it will enroll almost 2000 children.  The other sites in Kenya include KEMRI/Walter Reed Program, also in Nyanza, and KEMRI Wellcome/Trust, in Kilifi.
Malaria in pregnancy activities include:
• Assessment of the effectiveness of current guidelines to prevent malaria in pregnancy in HIV positive and negative women in Siaya District
• A trial to measure the added benefit of  mefloquine (an anti-malarial drug)  to daily septrin in preventing malaria in HIV positive pregnant women
• Evaluation of a DOMC-strategy to improve the uptake of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy

Transmission Reduction
This is a project to determine the best means of measuring malaria transmission in a time of declining transmission in various settings.  During the first year of this project, KEMRI/CDC focused on the added benefit of indoor residual spraying (IRS) to ITNs.  IRS was conducted by the DOMC with support from the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) in an area of high transmission.  Preliminary results indicate IRS may be another valuable tool to fight malaria in selected areas of high transmission.

Entomology
The Malaria Research Program carries out numerous activities related to the prevention of malaria transmission. These include:
• Evaluating the effectiveness of LLITNs and eave curtains against malaria vectors (the anopheline mosquito)
• Integrated vector control: Bed nets and Larviciding
• Surveillance of insecticide resistance to measure effectiveness of indoor residual spray (IRS) and ITNs
• Piloting alternatives to pyrethroids for IRS