MI2025 – Benoit Malleret

Title:
Methylene Blue Treatment Unveils Potential Blood Biomarkers in Fatal Cerebral Malaria: Insights from the Coatneyi-Infected Macaque Model

Abstract:
Cerebral malaria (CM), a serious complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection, results in lasting neurological damage in survivors. To explore diagnostic and treatment approaches for human CM, we studied Plasmodium coatneyi-infected rhesus macaques, which closely mimic human infection. Our analysis showed that methylene blue (>10 mg/kg) effectively mitigated brainstem damage caused by infection. By comparing brainstem and blood transcriptomic data from infected macaques with human blood data from P. falciparum infections, we identified nine genes linked to CM severity. Many were expressed in neutrophils, suggesting potential blood biomarkers for diagnosing severe CM. This study underscores the need for novel CM treatments and introduces promising biomarkers to enhance diagnosis and prognosis.

Biography:
Benoit received his PhD in Immunology at the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Paris, France. During his PhD, he worked on non-human primate models, and studied the innate response of macaques to Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) infection. He subsequently moved from Paris to Singapore to take up a post-doctoral research position to study malaria parasites and host cell tropism at the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), A*STAR.

In 2018, Benoit became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and his lab focuses on erythrocytic immunobiology. He has published over 90 articles and he was awarded the 2020 Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Young Researcher of the Year.