Title: Characterization of malaria sexual stage development in the human host
Description: Due to an increase in malaria control programs in the last decade, the world has witnessed dramatic reductions in the number of infections and deaths caused by the malaria parasite. With malaria eradication on the global health agenda, a shift toward transmission-focused research has led to a renewed focus on a previously neglected stage of malaria: the sexual stage (gametocyte). Malaria's sexual stages are the only stages in the human host that are transmitted to the mosquito vector, and are therefore of critical importance for blocking transmission of this devastating disease.