The Idris Lab conducts antibody discovery research in order to combat malaria and develop interventions. By studying specific antibodies known to neutralize malaria parasite, we aim to use that information to inform vaccine design. In particular, our work targets the parasites in their sporozoite form as a natural bottleneck where the burden of containing parasite replication is reduced. Additionally, our lab aims to understand the immune response to malaria in order to better understand the factors leading to durable immunity and devise better strategies for the prevention and treatment of malaria.
Dr. Azza Idris earned her BSc in Biology at MIT, followed by her dual MD/PhD degree at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Her doctoral research — in the laboratory of Dr. Wayne Yokoyama, MD — resulted in the genetic mapping and identification of a locus that controls natural killing and the Jeffrey Modell Prize for Excellence in Immunology for the best immunology thesis. Dr. Idris completed her pediatric residency training at Emory University in Atlanta and subspecialty training in pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. She is board certified in both General Pediatrics and Peds ID.
As the head of the Malaria Unit in Bob Seder’s lab at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Idris led efforts on discovery, development, and evaluation of antibodies and vaccines against malaria. Since 2018, Dr. Idris has been commuting between NIH and MIT as a visiting research affiliate in the labs of Drs. Bhatia at the Koch Institute and Niles in the Department of Biological Engineering. At MIT, she leveraged genetically engineered malaria parasites and cryoelectron microscopy to functionally interrogate molecular-level details of antibody recognition of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein, a critical malaria vaccine target.
Justine Alexander
Robert Onjiko
Simone Wall