An eight-part, self-paced online course featuring a multidisciplinary perspective on eradicating malaria—MalariaX: Defeating Malaria from the Genes to the Globe—debuted over the summer on the edX global learning platform.
The course focuses on the scientific and technological underpinnings of malaria, as well as the historical, political, social, and economic contexts in which control, elimination, and eradication efforts unfold.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health malaria expert Dyann Wirth thinks the course will help educate and train a new generation of public health leaders who want to take on the challenges of malaria around the world.
In a September 12, 2017 article in Global Health NOW, Wirth, Richard Pearson Strong Professor of Infectious Diseases and chair of Harvard Chan’s Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, wrote that the scientific community has made great strides in knowledge about malaria and the parasites that transmit it, putting eradication within reach. But more research and education is needed, she said.
“Thinking back to my experience as a young scientist learning about the disease, I hope MalariaX will help bring this sense of wonder, fascination, and urgency to others across the globe,” she wrote.
Harvard Chan instructors for MalariaX include Wirth, Marcia Castro, Flaminia Catteruccia, Michael Reich, and Sarah Volkman. Marcel Tanner of the University of Basel is also an instructor.