In Africa the journey toward improved health care is long and difficult. The problems begin early in life, with Africa’s infant mortality rate being ten times higher than the average rate for developed countries, and continue throughout life, with risks of life-threatening diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The lack of diagnostic equipment compounds the challenges.

Yet there is hope for improved health care in a hospital in Malawi, located in southeast Africa, where University Distinguished Professor of internal medicine Terrie Taylor of Michigan State University waits to see her next patient.

At the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Dr. Taylor is gathering a team of physicians and medical students around the country’s first and only MRI unit. She talks about the patients and what the team is learning about malaria.

Before the arrival of the MRI magnet, which was donated by GE Healthcare, Taylor and her colleagues had to rely on autopsies when looking for clues into how malaria was killing children. There was no way to know how to take action before it was too late or to know exactly why some children lived and some didn’t.

That’s changing.

“Now, we can see inside the heads of everyone, see the progression of the disease and have a better idea of the problem, so we can treat it,” said Taylor, who believes the associated research will lead to a lower mortality rate. “We want to find out how malaria kills children and then figure out a way to stop it.”

Taylor is also leading an international research team who will implement and evaluate anti-malaria strategies, thanks to a $9.1 million grant from National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The work will be carried out in three ecologically varied locations in Malawi, representative of geographic regions across southern Africa.

“By identifying the contributions made by people, parasites and mosquitoes to the incidence and prevalence of malaria in diverse geographic settings, we will be able to tailor prevention and control strategies to specific seasons — dry and rainy — and locations—highland and lowland, urban and rural,” she said.

The research project, part of a newly established NIH network of International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research, includes investigators from University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine.
Taylor and fellow physician Karl Seydel split their time between MSU and Malawi, where their work also includes teaching medical students from the university’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and College of Human Medicine. As a bench scientist, Dr. Seydel brings considerable strengths to the medical research.

Like the students, Seydel is aware of the magnitude of the projects and potential impact. “You see real patients and at the same time you work on this incredible research,” he said. “And the reality is that this project is saving lives that wouldn’t be saved if we weren’t here.”