Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA	DSc	2013	Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Public Health
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI	MS	1985	Veterinary Science
Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Bogota, Bogota, Colombia	DVM	1981	Veterinary Medicine

Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the world, nevertheless little is known about antimalarial drugs modes of action and resistance patterns of the parasite. The objective of our work is to test the pharmacokinetics and efficacy of new antimalarial compounds, the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance and pathogenesis of the parasite, as well as, to test the immunogenicity and efficacy of antimalarial vaccines.

Dr. Obaldia's research has focused on studying the efficacy and pharmacokinetics of new antimalarial compounds, the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance, the pathogenesis of the disease, and the immunogenicity and efficacy of experimental antimalarial vaccines. The approach taken by Dr. Obaldia's laboratory to study these problems has been the study of the efficacy of new antimalarial compounds against resistant multiple Plasmodium falciparum and vivax strains adapted to grow in vitro and in vivo in the Aotus / P. falciparum animal model, which has made it possible to study the efficacy of multiple classes of antimalarial compounds including derivatives of the Chinese drug Qinhao (artemisinin).

In another aspect of his research, he has studied the efficacy and immunogenicity of antimalarial vaccines based on recombinant Adenovirus and DNA plasmid peptides in the Aotus erythrocyte challenge model. Recently, he has participated in studies on the molecular epidemiology of malaria in Panama and in a consortium with Harvard and the University of South Florida funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that tries to keep Plasmodium vivax adapted to non-human primates and in continuous culture.

He has also recently carried out studies on the molecular epidemiology and population genetics of Plasmodium falciparum and vivax in Meso America and Panama, and as a veterinarian in the past done studies on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and control of animal diseases, including but not limited to Bluetongue virus of sheep and cattle, rabies transmitted by bats, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), pseudorabies and parvovirus in pigs and Tuberculosis.