EUROMALVAC

European
Malaria
Vaccine
Consortium

EM
VC

xx You are here: Home Page -> Members ->Profile: Theander

Dr Thor Theander
University of Copenhagen

Version for printing

Dr Thor Theander is Associate Professor at the Centre for Medical Parasitology, University of Copenhagen (CMP).

Dr Theander MD and his colleague, Dr Lars Hviid have worked on malaria immunology since 1984 at the Centre of Medical Parasitology. The Centre has developed strong and active links to research institutions in Ghana, Sudan, and Tanzania. Their work has mainly centred on the interaction between parasite and host in malaria and leishmaniasis, characterisation of cytokines and cytokine receptors in patients with severe and uncomplicated malaria, correlates of immunity, cellular immunity in malaria and leishmaniasis, and DNA vaccine development in leishmaniasis. They are presently partners in several INCO-DC programmes and have directed large DANIDA-funded Research Capacity Strengthening Programmes in Sudan and Ghana and lead several TDR programmes.

Over the last 12 years Dr Theander and Dr Hviid have collaborated extensively with colleagues in Edinburgh, Ghana and Khartoum. These collaborations have made it possible to collect large panels of plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), sampled during longitudinal studies in Africa with morbidity surveillance. Thus CMP has collections of PBMC and plasma from areas with high infection rates (Tanzania), intermediate infection rates (Ghana) and areas of unstable and low intensity malaria transmission (Sudan). With these banks of plasma and cells, CMP is testing the extent to which antigens being characterised by other work groups are recognised by individuals living under different conditions of malaria transmission (and hence having different levels of immunity to malaria). The extent to which reactivity to these antigens mirrors protection in humans living in malaria endemic areas is also being assessed.

Dr Theander is a partner in the studies on the PfEMP1 molecule and in the Immuno-epidemiology group. Under the joint work plan of the PfEMP1 group, he is responsible for generation of relevant plasma pools, for the testing of binding of antiserum and plasma to PfEMP1 expressed on infected erythrocytes. He is also working on sorting infected erythrocytes by flow cytometry and the expression of constructs covering parts of PfEMP1, the generation of antibodies to these and development of ELISA and inhibition ELISA assays to test to what extent antibodies are able to bind to homologue PfEMP1 regions expressed by different var genes.

Centre for Medical Parasitology