Professor Kamala 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 Thriemer is a clinical researcher committed to public health and tropical medicine. She holds a Medical Degree, a Master of Public Health and a PhD. She has more than fifteen years’ field experience in Africa and Asia, coordinating large scale and multi-centred clinical trials to inform treatment of infectious diseases. Her research focuses on optimising the treatment of P. vivax and developing public health strategies for malaria elimination. 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.

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 is an Associate Member of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
 

 

Research Themes
  1. Thriemer K, Degaga T, Alam MS, Adhkari B, Tripura R, Hossain MS, Christian M, Ghanchi NK, Mnjala H, Weston S, Ley B, Rumaseb A, Tadesse D, Teferi T, Yilma D, Lee G, Unger H, Sutanto I, Pasaribu AP, Ghimire P, Beg MA, Price RN. Adapting international clinical trials during COVID-19 and beyond. Clin Trials. 2023 Feb 11:17407745231154215. doi: 10.1177/17407745231154215
  2. Thriemer K, Degaga T, Christian M, Alam MS, Ley B, Hossain MS, Kibria MG, Teferi T, Tadesse D, Weston S, Karahalios A, Rajasekhar M, Simpson JA, Rumaseb A, Mnjala H, Lee G, Woyessa A, Anose RT, Kidane FG, Baird K, Sutanto I, Hailu A, Price RN. Reducing the risk of P. vivax after falciparum infections in co-endemic areas - a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2022 May 18;23(1):416. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06364-z.
  3. Poespoprodjo JR, Burdam FH, Candrawati F, Ley B, Meagher N, Kenangalem E, Indrawanti R, Trianty L, Thriemer K, Price DJ, Simpson JA, Price RN. Supervised versus unsupervised primaquine radical cure for the treatment of falciparum and vivax malaria in Papua, Indonesia: a cluster randomised, controlled, open-label superiority trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022 Mar;22(3):367-376. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00358-3. Epub 2021 Oct 25.
  4. Ruwanpura VH, Neukom J, Grietens KP, Price RN, Lynch CA, Thriemer K. Opening the policy blackbox: unravelling the process for changing national diagnostic and treatment guidelines for vivax malaria in seven countries. Malar J. 2021 Oct 30;20(1):428. doi: 10.1186/s12936-021-03959-w.
  5. Thriemer, K., Ley, B., von Seidlein, L. Towards the elimination of Plasmodium vivax malaria: implementing radical cure. PLoS Med, 2021 Apr 23;18(4):e1003494.  doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003494.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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 
  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 first authorship

  1. MEDIA RELEASE | Menzies researchers RESPOND to priority diseases in our global neighbourhood
  2. MEDIA RELEASE | NHMRC Grants awarded to investigate local and global health challenges
  3. MEDIA RELEASE | NHMRC funding awarded to tackle malaria and pneumonia on a global scale
  4. MEDIA RELEASE | Menzies researchers in the top 2 per cent
  5. Finding innovative solutions to eliminate vivax malaria by 2030
  6. Regional research set to get digital boost
  7. Lost in translation: In search of an end to the malaria epidemic
  8. Calls for a universal radical cure to treat malaria
  9. Calls for a universal radical cure to treat malaria
  10. Media Release | Malaria researcher awarded national fellowship
  11. Media Release | $2.5 million CSL Centenary Fellowships announced
  12. New Research Pinpoints Faster Treatment to Cure Vivax Malaria
  13. New study shows faster way to cure vivax malaria
  14. 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research | Final Report
  15. Coverage from the 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research
  16. Asia–Pacific research partnerships set to tackle big challenges
  17. SMH | Commonwealth regional research grants key to 'science diplomacy'
  18. Funding spotlight on eliminating malaria in Vietnam
  19. Weeding out Malaria
  20. Study emphasises the need for radical cure of vivax malaria