Carole Long

Carole Long, Ph.D., serves as Chief of the Malaria Immunology Section and Director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative Standard Membrane Feeding Assay-Reference Center and USAID Growth Inhibition Assay–Reference Center at NIAID/NIH. Her work focuses on understanding immunity to malaria in endemic populations and developing transmission-blocking vaccine candidates. She leads studies in Mali, examining parasite dynamics, antibody responses, and the role of hemoglobin polymorphisms like sickle cell trait in malaria resistance.

Dr. Long holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Pennsylvania and previously served as a professor at Hahnemann University School of Medicine (now Drexel University). She chairs the Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Study Section and has led initiatives to standardize assays for evaluating malaria vaccine efficacy, including the Standard Membrane Feeding Assay (SMFA) and Growth Inhibition Assay (GIA).

Her research integrates field studies in malaria-endemic regions with laboratory-based immunological and parasitological analyses. Key areas include identifying antibody targets against Plasmodium falciparum sexual and erythrocytic stages, and advancing transmission-blocking strategies to control malaria spread.