Lizzie is a first-year student on the University of Glasgow Integrative infection biology Wellcome Trust PhD programme. Lizzies’ passion for parasite vector interaction has been driven by the need to have a malaria free world after experiencing the malaria disease burden in Malawi, Sub-Saharan Africa.

She embarked on this journey in 2017 by joining the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome trust clinical research program as a pre-Msc intern, after four years in a diagnostic laboratory. Lizzie joined the malaria genomics research world; she chose genomic research because she strongly believes that the key to the next generation of malaria-ending tools is hiding there. Specifically, her work has been focused on exploring genetic diversity in Plasmodium falciparum and recently on genetic drivers of insecticide resistance in Anopheles gambiae with Prof Martin Donnelly and Dr Chris Jones.

Lizzie’s PhD will focus on genetic determinants of malaria transmission, supervised by Prof Matthias Marti and Dr Virginia Howick. “My research question aims to answer what are the genetic determinants of malaria transmission? I am so excited to have this amazing opportunity with a research question exploring an important aspect in the parasite development and transmission, supervised by leaders in malaria research while growing my science career.”