Medizinische Klinik
Innere Medizin VII
Institut für Tropenmedizin, Reisemedizin, Humanparasitologie

The research group focuses on the clinical development of new interventions for the treatment and prevention of malaria. Vaccine candidates and new compounds are being evaluated in phase I and II trials within the Clinical Trial Platform. Early efficacy evaluations apply the controlled human malaria infection model (CHMI).

The research group also sets up and initiates implementation of highly sensitive real-time PCR based assays for pathogen detection and genotyping for field trials. Further research focuses on the development of field-deployable point-of-care diagnostics. The aim is to develop a simple nucleic acid based rapid diagnostic test to detect malaria even with low parasite counts. Further projects evaluate point-of-care ultrasound for the diagnosis of tuberculosis, schistosomiasis and other infectious diseases.

Further scientific undertakings within the field of travel medicine are integrated in the activities of the outpatient travel clinic.

Work of the research group is supported by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF).

Members of the research group are Dr. Tamirat Gebru Woldeargai, Dr. Albert Lalremruata, Dr. Wim Fleischmann, Ayten Sultanli, Dr. Karolin Baumgartner, Marlene Kremp and Annika Bachert.

Le groupe travaille sur le développement clinique d’interventions innovatives pour le traitement et la prévention du paludisme. Des candidats vaccin et des nouveaux médicaments sont évalués en essais cliniques phase I et II. Les évaluations d’efficacité appliquent le model de l’infection humane contrôlée avec le paludisme (controlled human malaria infection, CHMI).

Autres projets de recherches se concentrent sur l’amélioration du diagnostic « point-of-care ». L’objectif est le développement d’un test simple à base d’acide nucléique pour la détection d’une infection avec des parasites du paludisme même à nombre bas. Autres projets évaluent l’échographie point-of-care pour le diagnostic de la tuberculose, de la bilharzie et d’autres maladies infectieuses.

D’autres projets scientifiques dans le domaine de la médecine du voyage s’intègrent aux activités de la polyclinique de l’institut.

Le travail du groupe est soutenu par le Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF).

• J Clin Microbiol. 2020 Apr 23;58(5):e01879-19.doi: 10.1128/JCM.01879-19. Print 2020 Apr 23.Recombinase Polymerase Amplification and Lateral Flow Assay for Ultrasensitive Detection of Low-Density Plasmodium falciparum Infection from Controlled Human Malaria Infection Studies and Naturally Acquired Infections. Albert Lalremruata, The Trong Nguyen, Matthew B B McCall, Ghyslain Mombo-Ngoma, Selidji T Agnandji, Ayôla A Adegnika, Bertrand Lell, Michael Ramharter, Stephen L Hoffman, Peter G Kremsner, Benjamin Mordmüller 8 3
• Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 Dec 8;12(12):CD009568.doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009568.pub2.Paediatric formulations of artemisinin-based combination therapies for treating uncomplicated malaria in children. Sabine Bélard, Michael Ramharter, Florian Kurth 
• Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2019 Nov;38(11):e295-e300.doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000002417.Intravenous Artesunate for Imported Severe Malaria in Children Treated in Four Tertiary Care Centers in Germany: A Retrospective Study. Sabine Bélard, Judith Brand, Ulf Schulze-Sturm, Ales Janda, Ulrich von Both , Costanza Tacoli, Martin Alberer, Caroline Kempf, Miriam S Stegemann, Renate Krüger, Verena Varnholt, Martin Blohm, Karl Reiter, Thomas Zoller, Norbert Suttorp, Marcus Mall, Horst von Bernuth, Alexander Gratopp, Johannes Hübner, Markus Hufnagel, Robin Kobbe, Florian Kurth
• Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Jan 6;114(1):38-48.doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trz101.Focused Assessment with Sonography for Urinary Schistosomiasis (FASUS)-pilot evaluation of a simple point-of-care ultrasound protocol and short training program for detecting urinary tract morbidity in highly endemic settings. J Remppis, A Verheyden, A L Bustinduy, T Heller, N García-Tardón, G P Manouana, R Obiang, A A Adegnika, M P Grobusch, M Ramharter, E Joekes, S Bélard
• Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2018 Jul;37(7):637-642.doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000001872.Utility of Point-of-care Ultrasound in Children With Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Sabine Bélard, Charlotte C Heuvelings, Ebrahim Banderker, Lindy Bateman, Tom Heller, Savvas Andronikou, Lesley Workman, Martin P Grobusch, Heather J Zar
• Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 5;9(1):9784.doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-46194-9.Characterization of Plasmodium infections among inhabitants of rural areas in Gabon. Tamirat Gebru Woldearegai, Albert Lalremruata, The Trong Nguyen, Markus Gmeiner, Luzia Veletzky, Gildas B Tazemda-Kuitsouc, Pierre Blaise Matsiegui, Benjamin Mordmüller, Jana Held