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Dr James Watson

Dr James Watson

Contact information


James@tropmedres.ac

Podcast Interview

Primaquine is a drug used to eliminate vivax malaria from the liver and prevent relapses. However, it causes anaemia in patients with G6PD deficiency. A new, slightly longer regimen with increasing doses of primaquine could allow to safely treat all patients with vivax malaria.

James Watson

Senior Scientist

Clinical Therapeutics

My main interest is characterizing the biology of relapse in vivax malaria via the analysis of genetic and epidemiological data. Alongside this, I'm interested in developing statistical models to better understand the pharmacology of antimalarial drugs. I have a particular interest in G6PD deficiency in the context of radical curative drugs for vivax malaria. I am working on developing a new primaquine regimen which would be safe in G6PD deficiency. My other interests are in Bayesian statistics and exploratory subgroup analysis.

Predicted optimal ascending primaquine regimen for G6PD deficiency. Left panel: the predicted mean fall in haemoglobin over time under an idealised and a more pratical regimen. Right panel: the ascending dose regimen (daily total mg doses).
Predicted optimal ascending primaquine regimen for G6PD deficiency. Left panel: the predicted mean fall in haemoglobin over time under an idealised and a more pratical regimen. Right panel: the ascending dose regimen (daily total mg doses).
The dynamics of bunching and the relationship with the MIC of a blood stage antimalarial drug. A hypothetical drug with 1st order elimination (top left panel) and the response-concentration curve (top right panel). The fate of daily reinfections emerging from the liver (bottom left) and the corresponding distribution of patent infections (bottom right).
The dynamics of bunching and the relationship with the MIC of a blood stage antimalarial drug. A hypothetical drug with 1st order elimination (top left panel) and the response-concentration curve (top right panel). The fate of daily reinfections emerging from the liver (bottom left) and the corresponding distribution of patent infections (bottom right).