Johns Hopkins Mosquito Minute

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
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  • Science
  • Updated Biweekly

Impactful malaria science and the trailblazers leading the fight. A podcast from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute in partnership with the Naked Scientists.

  1. Aug 18

    Malaria drug revolution

    Chris talks with Dr. Justin Boddey from Melbourne's WEHI about a promising new way to halt malaria, and make people immune at the same time.

  2. Jul 14

    Sickle cell defeated malaria and opened up pastures new

    Host Chris Smith speaks with Andrea Manica, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Cambridge, about what our ancient ancestors can teach us about grappling with malaria.

  3. Jun 4

    Half a million years of malaria and its control, with guest Sonia Shah

    Chris speaks with Sonia Shah, author of The Fever, about the history of malaria and human efforts to control it.

  4. May 21

    Malaria in Africa -- Guest: Emory University malaria expert Dr. Boghuma Titanji

    Why the continent accounts for the overwhelming majority of cases.

  5. Apr 24

    Driven to End Malaria: World Malaria Day 2026 with Ashley Birkett from the PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access

    World Malaria Day 2026 is marked under the theme Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must.

  6. Mar 3

    The Naked Scientists' "Titans of Science" Series: Jane Carlton

    Professor Jane Carlton is director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute. Dr. Chris Smith of the Naked Scientists interviews Jane about her research, her career and the future of malaria.

  7. 11/18/2025

    EXTENDED: Baby Wraps and Malaria – A New Tool to Protect Young Children (with Ross Boyce)

    In sub-Saharan Africa, mothers often carry their babies on their backs in colorful cotton wraps called lesu. Could treating these wraps with insecticide help prevent malaria? Dr. Ross Boyce discusses a groundbreaking study in Uganda showing that permethrin-treated wraps significantly reduce malaria in infants – and further, what this could mean for protecting the youngest and most vulnerable children from this often fatal disease.

  8. 11/11/2025

    Insecticide-Treated Baby Wraps Cut Malaria Cases by Two-Thirds in Uganda

    A new study in rural western Uganda finds that treating baby-carrying cloths, or lesu, with an insecticide with modest repellent effect significantly reduces malaria infections in young children. Transcript In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, mothers carry their young children on their backs in colorful cotton wraps called lesu. Could treating these cloths with insecticide reduce malaria transmission? A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine explored this question in rural western Uganda, where malaria is transmitted year-round. Researchers enrolled 400 mothers with children aged six to 18 months. Using a blinded randomized placebo-controlled trial design, half received lesu treated with permethrin, a commonly-used insecticide. The other half received untreated cloths. All participants also received  insecticide-treated bed nets. Every two weeks for 24 weeks, the mothers and children visited local health centers to check for fever and undergo malaria testing. The results were striking: children carried in permethrin-treated lesu represented 66% fewer malaria cases – 0.73 cases per 100 people compared with 2.13 in the control group. The findings suggest that insecticide-treated lesu – much like treated bed nets – could offer an effective new tool particuarly against outdoor biting for a highly vulnerable population - children under 5 years of age - in sub-Saharan Africa. Source Permethrin-Treated Baby Wraps for the Prevention of Malaria [NEJM] About The Podcast The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.

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Impactful malaria science and the trailblazers leading the fight. A podcast from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute in partnership with the Naked Scientists.

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