Oralee Branch
Oralee Branch, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Parasitology
Old Public Health Building, Rm 210, 606
341 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Tel: (212) 263-4364
Email: Oralee.Branch@nyumc.org
Lab website
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Research Interests
Transmission dynamics in P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria; molecular epidemiology
Research Summary
Worldwide, malaria causes more than 500 million infections and 2 million deaths each year. One of the major factors responsible for establishment of the malaria-causing Plasmodium species protozoan parasites in human populations is its genetic plasticity and variability. My research program involves a population biology approach that combines epidemiology, immunology, genetics, bioinformatics, and molecular evolution to study what underlies malaria parasite resistance to the human host immune responses and anti-malaria drugs. We have NIH grant funded studies of immune responses and immunologic memory, Vaccine Candidate antigen and whole-genome diversity, and erythrocyte invasion in vitro. Moreover, my program is studying how the different human-malaria causing malaria parasites species interact, causing different malaria symptoms and infection dynamics, in geographic regions where P. falciparum and P. vivax infect the same human population (co-transmission). These studies involve comprehensive field investigations, and my program includes field and laboratory research in Peru and India.
Selected Publications
Branch OH, Takala S, Kariuki S, Nahlen BL, Kolczak M, Hawley W, Lal AA. Plasmodium falciparum genotypes, low complexity of infection, and resistance to subsequent malaria in participants in the Asembo Bay Cohort Project. Infect Immun. 2001 Dec;69(12):7783-92. PDF
Mu J, Duan J, Makova KD, Joy DA, Huynh CQ, Branch OH, Li WH, Su XZ. Chromosome-wide SNPs reveal an ancient origin for Plasmodium falciparum. Nature. 2002 Jul 18;418(6895):323-6. Erratum in: Nature 2002 Oct 3;419(6906):487. PDF
Branch O, Casapia WM, Gamboa DV, Hernandez JN, Alava FF, Roncal N, Alvarez E, Perez EJ, Gotuzzo E. Clustered local transmission and asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria infections in a recently emerged, hypoendemic Peruvian Amazon community. Malar J. 2005 Jun 23;4:27. PDF
Parekh FK, Hernandez JN, Krogstad DJ, Casapia WM, Branch OH. Prevalence and risk of P. falciparum andP. vivax malaria among pregnant women living in the hypoendemic communities of the Peruvian Amazon. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2007 Sept;77(3): 451-7. PDF
Chenet SM, Branch OH, Escalante AA, Lucas CM, Bacon DJ. Genetic diversity of vaccine candidate antigens in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from the Amazon basin of Peru. Malaria Journal 2008, 7:93.
Torres KJ, Clark EH, Hernandez JN, Soto-Cornejo KE, Gamboa D, Branch OH. Antibody response dynamics to the Plasmodium falciparum conserved vaccine candidate antigen, merozoite surface protein-1 C-terminal 19kD (MSP1-19kD), in Peruvians exposed to hypoendemic malaria transmission. Malaria Journal 2008, 9;7:173.
Organizational Associations
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Medical Scientist
Peruvian Society of Topical Infectious Diseases (SPIET)
Indian International Research Association of Vector Borne Infectious Disease
Selected Awards
Human Health Services travel award for partnership building in India
Student Prize: research prize awarded to M.D. student's summer research project
2003 Sparkman International Center Scholarship Award
2002 Sparkman International Scholar
2000 Young Investigator Award, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
1999 Mentor and Teacher Award. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1999 Travel Award. Royal Society of Tropical Medicine. Oxford
2000 Parasitology Workshop
