By Merin C. MacDonald | Date published: January 14, 2025

Ann Moormann Serves on Expert Panel for WHO Meeting on Immune Correlates of Protection for Malaria Vaccines 

Malaria sickens over 350 million people per year globally and is responsible for about 600,000 deaths annually. It is endemic in 85 countries, and there have even been cases recently in the United States. The WHO approved the first malaria vaccine in 2021 for children residing in malaria-endemic countries. 

Early in the summer of 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals organized a meeting to discuss the current state of immune correlates of protection for malaria vaccines. Ann Moormann, PhD, MPH, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, served on an international panel of experts at the meeting.  

“One major goal of vaccine development efforts is to determine whether a simple blood test, such as measuring antibodies, will let us know if someone is protected from infection and disease,” said Dr. Moormann. “I am honored to be involved in this very important work that continues to evaluate immune correlates of protection for the current and next-generation malaria vaccines.” 

The full meeting report may be viewed here.