Name: Dr Linda Eva Amoah, PhD, BSc.

Email address: levaamoah@noguchi.ug.edu.gh

Telephone: +233-302-501178

Fax: +233-302-502182

Department: Immunology

Biography

Dr.Amoah joined the NMIMR in 2009 as a Research Fellow. She obtained her PhD from Georgetown University, USA and focused herPhD thesis work on drug resistant malaria.She specialized in the area of de novogene synthesis, heterologous gene expression and purification of recombinant proteins. To further her malaria research capabilities,Dr.Amoah joined the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center(MR4) at the ATCC, USAandstill continues to research in malaria. As a visiting scholar, at the University of Copenhagen she helpedproduce a malaria transmission blocking vaccine candidate. Dr.Amoah’s laboratory is taking an integrated approach to both evaluate malaria transmission in the field and the design of new transmission blocking agents. Her laboratory is screening for anti gametocydal drug activity as well as working on identifying parasite and host genetic traits that influence the infectiousness of circulating Plasmodium gametocytes. Dr.Amoah has also organized and facilitated a number of local and international scientific workshops and conferences and is a member of the University of Ghana Malaria Centre of Excellence.

Administrative Role

Research Fellow

Research Interests

• ·         Parasite Biology
• ·         Vaccine design
• ·         Malaria transmission blocking activities
• ·         Identification of malaria transmission blocking agents

Projects:

1: 14-POI-GHA/A26804 (Dodoo, PI): 2015 – 2019: DANIDA                              

Title: Functional immune-genetic correlates of immunity to malaria – The goalsof this project are to identify correlates of immunity to malaria that incorporate aspects of host genetics, parasite genetics and outputs from functional immunological assays.

2: R01AI069314 - 06A1 (Amoah, PI): 2014-2018: US-NIH

Title: Plasmodium falciparum gametocytogenesis – The aim is to better understand the biology and infectiousness of plasmodium falciparum gametocytes

3: URF 6th Call Research Grants (Asamoah, PI) 2013-2015: UG

Title: “Identification of novel HLA class I and II-restricted T cell epitopes of Plasmodium falciparum candidate antigens as potential malaria vaccine components”

4: R03 AI103638-01 (Amoah, PI) 2012 – 2015: US-NIH                           

Title: Contributions of Pfs48/45 to malaria transmission blocking immunity - The goal is to validate a malaria transmission blocking vaccine candidate and determine natural levels of transmission blocking antibodies in malaria patients

5: UG Malaria Centre for Excellence: 2014 –

The goal of this project is to locally produce a vaccine to combat malariaFunding agency: University of Ghana

Publications:

• 1.      Theisen M, Roeffen W, Singh S.K., Andersen G, Amoah L, et al Vaccine. 2014 May 7;32(22):2623-30A multi-stage malaria vaccine candidate targeting both transmission and asexual parasite life-cycle stages.

• 2.      Lekostaj,J.K., Amoah, L.E. and Roepe, P.D. 2008.  Molecular &
• a.      Biochemical Parasitology, 157:107-111.A Single S1034C Mutation Confers Altered Drug Sensitivity to PfMDR1 ATPase Activity That is Characteristic of the 7G8 Isoform.

• 3.       Amoah, L.E.,Lekostaj, J.K., and Roepe, P.D. 2007. Biochemistry, 46 (20):6060-73Heterologous Expression and ATPase Activity of Mutant vs. Wild Type Pf MDR1 Protein