DIAGMAL investigator meeting

The DIAGMAL consortium held its first face-to-face investigators’ meeting in Mombasa, Kenya on 24 and 25 October 2022. The main objective of the DIAGMAL project is to assess the diagnostic performance of a simplified molecular diagnostic platform for malaria. This diagnostic test circumvents the need for complex DNA extractions, is performed with simple solar-powered equipment and has a dipstick read-out system. Its performance is evaluated in five different malaria-endemic settings across Africa, namely Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia and Sudan. The project also includes research on the cost-effectiveness of the implementation of the platform, works towards registration and pre-qualification of the diagnostic device and includes a strong capacity-building component.

During the meeting, the progress towards completing recruitment and data collection was reviewed. Further, the investigators presented preliminary data, and a dissemination plan of the DIAGMAL findings was presented. Lastly, two sub-studies on the diagnosis of malaria in pregnancy conducted in Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo, led by Dr Kiemde and Dr Maketa (two Career Development Fellows supported by EDCTP), were presented and discussed.

The consortium plans to have a final investigators’ meeting to present the complete data on the diagnostic accuracy of the DIAGMAL platform in May 2023.