Rate My Professor Mark Travassos

Mark A. Travassos, MD, MSc, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, part of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He is a pediatric infectious diseases specialist and a key member of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health's Malaria Research Program, where he directs the Pathogenesis Unit and co-leads the Immunoepidemiology and Pathogenesis Unit with Dr. Andrea Berry. Dr. Travassos also serves as Director of the Global Health Track for the Pediatrics Residency Program. His academic background includes an A.B. in Biology from Harvard University in 1997, an M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Oxford in 2003, and an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 2004. He completed a pediatric residency on the International Health Track at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and a fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Tropical Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Travassos's research centers on malaria pathogenesis and epidemiology, with particular emphasis on cerebral malaria and other severe malaria syndromes. He investigates malaria parasite variant surface antigens, including PfEMP1, RIFINs, and STEVORs, and their contributions to disease development, immunity gaps, and protective natural immunity in children. Additional interests include the protective role of sickle cell trait against clinical malaria and the use of serosurveys to assess vaccine coverage, as demonstrated in studies conducted in Ethiopia. His work employs genomic epidemiology, immunoepidemiology, microarray analysis, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Notable publications include 'A shared inflammatory signature across severe malaria syndromes manifested by transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic analyses' in Nature Communications (2025), 'Diamonds in the rif: Alignment-free comparative genomics analysis reveals strain-transcendent Plasmodium falciparum antigens amidst extensive genetic diversity' in Infection, Genetics and Evolution (2025), 'Children with hemoglobin C or S trait have low serologic responses to a subset of malaria variant surface antigens' in Journal of Infection (2024), 'Children with cerebral malaria or severe malarial anaemia lack immunity to distinct variant surface antigen subsets' in Scientific Reports (2018), 'Hemoglobin C trait provides protection from clinical falciparum malaria in Malian children' in Journal of Infectious Diseases (2015), and 'Immunization Coverage Surveys and Linked Biomarker Serosurveys in Three Regions in Ethiopia' in PLoS One (2016).