Rate My Professor Karen Day

Professor Day's research employs molecular epidemiology to examine how genomic variation in humans and Plasmodium parasites modulates transmission dynamics, with a focus on malaria genomics, epidemiology, and control. Her laboratory investigates malaria epidemiology and elimination in high-transmission West African settings, genomic epidemiology for surveillance, malaria as a complex system, antimalarial drug resistance responses to interventions in Ghana, diversity of Plasmodium falciparum variant antigen genes, and quorum sensing in malaria parasites. Key publications include "Microsatellite markers reveal a spectrum of population structures in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum" (2000, Molecular Biology and Evolution), "Several alleles of the multidrug-resistance gene are closely linked to chloroquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum" (1990, Nature), "Mating patterns in malaria parasite populations of Papua New Guinea" (1995, Science), "Twelve microsatellite markers for characterization of Plasmodium falciparum from finger-prick blood samples" (1999, Parasitology), and recent works such as "The dynamics of asymptomatic Plasmodium spp. infections following 10 years of malaria control interventions in Northern Sahelian Ghana" (2026). Her contributions have garnered over 8,500 citations. Professor Day has been awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM), the 2015 Advance Global Australia Life Sciences Award, and nearly US$3 million in funding from the US National Institutes of Health for malaria research. She maintains a strong record in interdisciplinary training of infectious disease epidemiologists.