Through a Global Praxis grant from George Mason University (GMU), six students and one professor will be visiting project sites of MCDI's Bioko Island Malaria Elimination Project (BIMEP) from May 24 through June 2.

With Dr. Michael E. von Fricken, an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Global and Community Health at GMU, the students will learn more about the BIMEP's exciting work in vector control, and its integration with malaria vaccine trials in an effort to eliminate malaria from Bioko Island.

The Global Praxis grant awarded by GMU's Global Education Office promotes faculty and students alike to conduct research abroad allowing students a hands-on experience to further their careers. During their trip, the students will learn about BIMEP's field operations and will participate in lectures given by researchers and field experts. The students will learn about bed net distributions, indoor residual spraying, larviciding, using aspirators to calculate human landing rates, mosquito trapping and will observe the processes of the malaria vaccine trial. The students, guided by Dr. von Fricken, will also be collecting ticks for epidemiological research, which is the first scientifically documented tick collection in Equatorial Guinea.