Developing low-cost microscopes for early malaria detection

Malaria is the leading cause of death among young people in Uganda. (Photo by Shelagh Murphy/Pexels) Western professor Ian Cunningham is working to help people in Uganda have better access to life-saving testing and early diagnosis of malaria. Cunningham, a Schulich Medicine & Dentistry professor and scientist at Robarts Research Institute, is the research mentor on a project to develop a low-cost digital light microscope for remote diagnosis of malaria in poor populations. With funding from Academics Without Borders (AWB) , Cunningham works closely with William Wasswa, project lead and a professor at Mbarara University of Science & Technology in Uganda. "Treatments for malaria are only effective if you can diagnose quickly in rural environments so they can be started on a treatment regime quickly," said Cunningham. "The current system of sending a sample to labs in big cities for diagnosis is a barrier to that. My colleague proposed developing a low-cost microscope that can be brought to these locations." The project aims to build such microscope for under $500.