Dr. Silvia Portugal

Max-Planck-Institut für Infektionsbiologie
Charitéplatz 1
Campus Charité Mitte
10117 Berlin / Germany

Phone: +49 (0)30 28460 0
E-Mail

until June 2020:

Department of Infectious Diseases, Parasitology
Heidelberg University Hospital
69120 Heidelberg, Germany

FIELDS OF INTEREST

The main goal of my lab is to understand how Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, survives the dry season when no mosquitoes are available. Plasmodium usually alternates between a human host and a mosquito vector, but in many areas of the globe a long and complete dry season interrupts transmission for several months. We study the host and parasite factors that contribute to silent carriage of parasites in close to 30% of children during the 6-month dry season in Mali.

AWARDS & HONORS

2017 ERC Starting Grant at Heidelberg University Hospital
2016 Group Leader Fellowship at Heidelberg University Hospital, DZIF
2015 Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) NIH Scientific Directors
2014 Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) NIH Scientific Directors
2013 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Endowment to attend the Biology of Parasitism course at the Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, USA
2012 European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Long-Term Fellowship
2010 Participation on the 60th Interdisciplinary Meeting of Nobel Laureates at Lindau, Germany
2009 Short-Term Fellowship by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal to attend the 5th MIM Pan-African Malaria Conference, November 2 – 6, 2009, Nairobi, Kenya
2009 University of South Florida Travel Award to attend the Vivax Malaria Research III: 2009 and Beyond conference, May 24 – 28, 2009, Gamboa Rainforest Resort, Panama
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