Rate My Professor Mark Travassos

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).