«Dr. Cassera has taken a leap forward
in malaria research by identifying a unique pathway at an essential step in parasite development and transmission to mosquitoes,» said Vern Schramm, the Ruth Merns Chair and Professor of Biochemistry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and former postdoctoral mentor to Cassera.
For example, the Malaria Research Training Centre in Mali, which had significant TDR / RCS support in its early years, is now highly
competitive in malaria research.
Among his many honors, he received the Life Time Achievement
Award in malaria research from the BioMalPar European Organization; was elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2003); elected member of the American American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002); was the recipient of Bristol Myers Squib «Freedom to Discover» Award for distinguished achievement in Infectious Diseases (2006).
The members of the genus Aotus constitute one of the few species that are affected by Plasmodium falciparum, making them suitable for non-human primate experimental
models in malaria research.
In malaria research, for example, it has been shown that, while epidemics in the highlands have been associated with positive anomalies in temperature and rainfall (Githeko and Ndegwa, 2001; as discussed in Section 9.4.3), those in the semi-arid areas are mainly associated with excessive rainfall (Thomson et al., 2006).