Antibodies induced by RTS,S vaccination may contribute to protection against malaria by directly blocking pre-erythrocytic parasites and/or by mediating the clearance of parasites through the recruitment and activation of innate immune responses. Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) aim to use multiple cellular and biophysical assays in combination with advanced machine learning algorithms to define the specific aspects of the humoral immune response that contribute to protection against controlled human malaria infection (CHMI).

The current Antibody profiling: Ad35.CS/RTS,S project is using this approach to analyze serum from subjects in the MAL068 safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy clinical trial. Here, MGH aims to validate these findings using serum samples collected from subjects enrolled in the MAL027 and MAL071 safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy clinical trials. It is anticipated that data generated by MGH may provide new information on immune correlates of protection for the RTS,S vaccine as well as guide the development of next-generation anti-infection vaccines for malaria.