Artemisinins are very poweful tools in the treatment of malaria, and the emerging loss of their activity has the potential to create a major public health problem. Understanding how this resistance has developed and spread helps better treat patients, treat populations and eliminate malaria, which is the new goal in South East Asia.

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Charlie Woodrow is a clinician-scientist who has been based in MORU since 2009, his arrival coinciding with the emergence of artemisinin resistance in Southeast Asia. His main role over this time has been to co-ordinate clinical and laboratory studies on resistance to artemisinins and partner drugs, collaborating with a range of MORU researchers and external groups to bring together diverse datasets of clinical, in vitro and molecular data. Most recently, Charlie has led a countrywide survey of the K13 artemisinin resistance marker in Myanmar. In September 2014, he was an invited member of the WHO Expert Review Group on K13.

Charlie is also a Scientific Advisor to WWARN’s in vitro module, and was a driving force behind the development of WWARN’s IVART tool which allows analysis of large in vitro datasets via a free, online server. The tool is now the preferred analysis method for a number of in vitro scientists. Charlie also leads MORU’s collaborative work on malaria in Afghanistan.

Charlie is a Visiting Professor at Mahidol University, and plays an active role in the Faculty of Tropical Medicine’s Molecular Tropical Medicine and Genetics Department. His particular interests include antimalarial drug resistance, evolutionary aspects of malaria biology, parasite clearance mechanisms and the diagnosis of uncomplicated and severe malaria.

Prior to joining MORU, Charlie was an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellow. He is a Consultant Physician with an Honorary Contract at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, and takes part in the acute general medicine on-call rota.