Posted on Apr 10, 2018
Dai Mason is a civil engineer with experience overseas in construction and consulting projects.   He continues with aspects of this work in is own business in Australia.  He is an E-Club Rotarian and with contacts to District 9640.
 
Notably his overseas activities in places in the tropics such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have been in many Malaria prone areas.  That connection touched him so that he is now Ambassador for an exciting project borne on the Gold Coast, namely the research into a unique Malaria Vaccine.   The lead scientist is at Griffith University, being Professor Michael Cook.  Cook's groups is linked into the Gold Coast Hospital.
 
The project is at the stage where human trials of a developed vaccine are to begin.   As always in these things funds are required and several Qld Rotary clubs via the broader RAM( Rotarians against Malaria) are partners in progressing the funding and project.   The link below provides a mechanism to get involved.
 
 
In the course of his address Dai told of some key facts.
 
  there are 214M cases of Malaria worldwide
  400,000 die each year
  Malaria is a parasite with capacity to manifest/change into various form.
  Thus far vaccines have limited success
 
The thrust of the Griffith team is for a vaccine to stimulate the body's own immune system to eliminate any/all phase of the parasite's presence in the human body.   Their test vaccine has thus far proved effective with animals and hence now the planned human trials on appropriately selected volunteers.   The next stage requires funds of  about $600, 000 much of which has already been acquired from many donation sources.