Associate Professor Kamala Ley-Thriemer

Principal Research Fellow

Qualifications:

PhD, University Antwerp, Belgium, 2013; Master of Public Health, University Liverpool, UK, 2011; Medical degree, Medical University Vienna, Austria, 2005

Approved level of HDR supervision at Charles Darwin University:

Primary supervisor for PhD

Location:

Darwin - Royal Darwin Hospital campus

Biography:

Kamala is a CSL Centenary Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research. Her main research interest is to develop and optimise treatment programs against vivax malaria in south-east Asia and the Horn of Africa. Her research program spans from clinical trials and epidemiological studies to policy and implementation research. She also teaches in Menzies Postgraduate Public Health programs for Charles Darwin University and coordinates the Vivax Working Group (VxWG) of the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN).

Kamala graduated from the Medical University Vienna (MUV), Austria in 2005 where she first began researching antimalarial drug resistance in Thailand and Bangladesh. Kamala graduated with a Master of Public Health from the University of Liverpool in 2011 and received her PhD degree from the University Antwerp, Belgium.

She has lived and worked in the field in both Asia and throughout Africa for more than eight years. She started her research career at the International Center for Diarrheal Diseases (icddr,b) in Bangladesh focusing on clinical and epidemiological studies to define the burden of falciparum malaria. She subsequently worked with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) based in Tanzania and Kenya and then at the Institute for Tropical Medicine (ITM), Belgium where her research interests included malaria, typhoid fever and cholera.

Kamala has received more than $3.5 million competitive research grants in the last year.

 

 

Associate Professor Kamala Ley-Thriemer
Email
Research Themes
  1. Taylor, W.R.J.*, Thriemer, K.*, von Seidlein, L., Yuentrakul, P., Assawariyathipat, T., Assefa, A., et al. (2019). Short-course primaquine for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria: a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled non-inferiority trial. Lancet, 394 (10202), 929-938. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31285-1.
  2. Commons, R.J., Simpson, K.A., Thriemer ,K., Hossain, M.S., Douglas, N.M., Humphreys, G.S., et al. (2019) Risk of Plasmodium vivax parasitaemia after Plasmodium falciparum infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis,19(1), 91-101. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30596-6.
  3. Thriemer, K., Bobogare, A., Ley, B., Gudo, C.S., Alam, M.S., Anstey, N.M., et al (2018). Quantifying primaquine effectiveness and improving adherence: a round table discussion of the APMEN Vivax Working Group. Malar J, 17(1):241. doi: 10.1186/s12936-018-2380-8.
  4. Ley, B., Thriemer, K., Jaswal, J., Poirot, E., Alam, M.S., Phru, C.S., et al. (2017) Barriers to routine G6PD testing prior to treatment with primaquine. Malar J, 16(1):329. doi: 10.1186/s12936-017-1981-y.
  5. Htun, M. W., Mon, N.C.N., Aye, K.M., Hlaing, C.M., Kyaw, M.P., Handayuni, I. et al. (2017). Chloroquine efficacy for Plasmodium vivax in Myanmar in populations with high genetic diversity and moderate parasite gene flow. Malar J, 16(1):281. doi: 10.1186/s12936-017-1912-y.
  6. Wangchuk, S., Drukpa, T., Penjor, K., Peldon, T., Dorjey, Y., Dorji, K., Chhetri, V., Trimarsanto, H., To. S., Murphy, A., von Seidlein, L., Price, R.N., Thriemer, K.*, Auburn, S.* (2016). Where chloroquine still works: the genetic make-up and susceptibility of Plasmodium vivax to chloroquine plus primaquine in Bhutan. Malaria Journal,15(1), 277. doi: 10.1186/s12936-016-1320-8.
  7. Abreha, T.*, Hwang, J.*, Thriemer, K.* , Tadesse, Y., Girma, S., Melaku, Z., et al. (2018) Comparison of artemether-lumefantrine and chloroquine with and without primaquine for the treatment of Plasmodium vivax infection in Ethiopia: A randomized controlled trial. PLOS Medicine 15(10): e1002677. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002677 
  8. Thriemer, K., Ley, B., Bobogare, A., Dysoley, L., Alam, M.S., Ayodhia, P., et al. (2017). Challenges for achieving safe and effective radical cure of Plasmodium vivax: a round table discussion of the APMEN Vivax Working Group. Malar J, 16(1), 141. doi: 10.1186/s12936-017-1784-1
  9. PREGACT Study Group, Pekyi, D., Ampromfi, A.A., Tinto, H., Traoré-Coulibaly, M., Tahita, M.C., et al. (2016). Four Artemisinin-Based Treatments in African Pregnant Women with Malaria. New England Journal of Medicine, 374(10), 913-27. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1508606.
  10. Thriemer, K., Hong, N.V., Rosanas-Urgell,  A., Phuc, B.Q., Ha, D.M., Pockele, E., et al. (2014). Delayed parasite clearance after treatment with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine in Plasmodium falciparum malaria patients in Central Vietnam. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 58(12), 7049-55. pii: AAC.02746-14.

* shared authorship

  1. Finding innovative solutions to eliminate vivax malaria by 2030

    Finding innovative solutions to eliminate vivax malaria by 2030

    Date

    New research by Menzies’ malaria team is identifying innovative new ways to eliminate Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria by 2030.

  2. Regional research set to get digital boost

    Regional research set to get digital boost

    Date

    Resources Regional Collaborations Programme COVID-19 Digital Grants, recognises A/Prof Kamala Ley-Thriemer, Dr Jo Wapling and Dr Chris Lowbridge.

  3. Lost in translation: In search of an end to the malaria epidemic

    Lost in translation: In search of an end to the malaria epidemic

    Date

    CDU Research Impact story | Menzies researcher Dr Kamala Ley-Thriemer is committed to the cause.

  4. Calls for a universal radical cure to treat malaria

    Calls for a universal radical cure to treat malaria

    Date

    The elimination of malaria from the Asia Pacific within the decade will require the safe and effective radical cure of malaria, a new paper in Trends in Parasitology suggests.

  5. Calls for a universal radical cure to treat malaria

    Calls for a universal radical cure to treat malaria

    Date

    The elimination of malaria from the Asia Pacific within the decade will require the safe and effective radical cure of malaria, a new paper in Trends in Parasitology suggests.

  6. Healthy Tomorrow | Christmas edition 2019

    Healthy Tomorrow | Christmas edition 2019

    Date

    In this edition, we are proud to present a snapshot of the announcements, awards and events that have occurred over the past few months.

  7. Media Release | Malaria researcher awarded national fellowship

    Media Release | Malaria researcher awarded national fellowship

    Date

    Menzies School of Health (Menzies) researcher Dr Kamala Thriemer has been awarded a prestigious $1.25 million CSL Centenary Fellowship to develop and optimise treatment programs against vivax malaria in SE Asia and the Horn of Africa.

  8. Media Release | $2.5 million CSL Centenary Fellowships announced

    Media Release | $2.5 million CSL Centenary Fellowships announced

    Date

    Two Australian scientists have each been awarded AUD$1.25 million CSL Centenary Fellowships over five years to improve treatments for two of the world’s biggest health challenges: malaria and cancer.

  9. New Research Pinpoints Faster Treatment to Cure Vivax Malaria

    New Research Pinpoints Faster Treatment to Cure Vivax Malaria

    Date

    A new research study has shown that a seven-day treatment with a high dose of an anti-malaria drug can be tolerated by patients

  10. New study shows faster way to cure vivax malaria

    New study shows faster way to cure vivax malaria

    Date

    A large clinical trial in Africa and Asia has shown that a 7 day course of high dose primaquine, a drug used to treat P. vivax malaria, is well tolerated.

  11. 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research | Final Report

    7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research | Final Report

    Date

    MESA Correspondents bring you cutting-edge coverage from the 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research (ICPVR 2019).

  12. Coverage from the 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research

    Coverage from the 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research

    Date

    Wrapping up the 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research, day three focused on the topics of P. vivax drugs and approaches for P. vivax elimination.

  13. Asia–Pacific research partnerships set to tackle big challenges

    Asia–Pacific research partnerships set to tackle big challenges

    Date

    The largest grant, of $257,767, goes to the Menzies School of Health Research for a project with collaborators in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Netherlands.

  14. SMH | Commonwealth regional research grants key to 'science diplomacy'

    SMH | Commonwealth regional research grants key to 'science diplomacy'

    Date

    Among the other projects funded are the Menzies School of Health Research partnering with Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal to develop malaria treatments.

  15. Funding spotlight on eliminating malaria in Vietnam

    Funding spotlight on eliminating malaria in Vietnam

    Date

  16. Weeding out Malaria

    Weeding out Malaria

    Date

    A study led by the Menzies School of Health Research recommends a two-stage treatment for the notoriously difficult-to-cure Plasmodium vivax malaria

  17. Study emphasises the need for radical cure of vivax malaria

    Study emphasises the need for radical cure of vivax malaria

    Date

    A study into the treatment of the difficult-to-cure Plasmodium vivax malaria in Ethiopia.