The Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, under the leadership of Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Čajka, has become a new partner in the European research project CAPTIVATE, funded by the Horizon Europe programme through the Hop-on Facility call. The project is coordinated by the European Vaccine Initiative E.V. and brings together leading European experts in malaria research, vaccination, immunology, and systems biology.
The aim of the CAPTIVATE project is to develop a more effective vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of one of the most dangerous forms of malaria. The project employs a combination of strategies targeting different developmental stages of the parasite (sporozoite, liver, and blood stages), including advanced mRNA technologies, attenuated parasites, and the already approved RTS,S/AS01 vaccine. In addition to preclinical and clinical trials, CAPTIVATE places strong emphasis on a deep understanding of immune mechanisms that confer protection against infection.
The team of Assoc. Prof. Čajka will be responsible for system-level analyses of immune responses to vaccination, focusing particularly on metabolomic, lipidomic, and proteomic studies. The research will involve samples from both preclinical and clinical studies and will focus on identifying biochemical and molecular mechanisms associated with infection protection and vaccine efficacy. These findings will be integrated with other datasets (e.g., transcriptomic data) to build a comprehensive picture of vaccine-induced immune protection.
A project meeting was held in February 2025, during which the integration of the research activities led by Assoc. Prof. Čajka into the structure and implementation of the CAPTIVATE project was thoroughly discussed.
