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Dr Dan Cooper recently finished his PhD field research in Malaysia, for the largest ever clinical trial in knowlesi malaria. He’s now back in Darwin for the laboratory and statistical analysis and is excited to be in the Top End amongst such a stellar group of malaria experts.

He says as an early career researcher, it has been crucial to work alongside such knowledgeable specialists on both the development and implementation of a large, collaborative project.

”The opportunity to be around leading researchers in malaria is invaluable, especially the access to high quality statistical assistance. It’s a steep learning curve – especially with the software! My supervisor is Professor Nick Anstey and discussions are always interesting and lively. Everyone here is very approachable.”

Dan is a nephrologist from the UK and when he was offered the opportunity to do his PhD in Darwin, he jumped at it. At the time, he’d just returned from Sierra Leone and the Ebola crisis and was studying in Liverpool for his Diploma in Tropical Medicine. He was very keen to develop his interest in infectious diseases further and Northern Australia had always been on his radar as an interesting part of the world for both research and clinical work.

“Menzies has a world class reputation for research” he explains, “But also as a physician, the unique pathology and demographics in the Northern Territory is also fascinating. The discussion that surrounds the patients that present at Royal Darwin Hospital is always interesting, particularly as it combines my renal expertise with tropical medicine’.

Although Dan’s field research was in Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, he’s been in constant contact with his supervisors in Australia and has travelled back and forth between both countries. The  focus of his project is the monkey parasite, Plasmodium knowlesi which is the most common cause of human malaria in Malaysia. A frequent complication is acute kidney injury and his trial is designed to identify whether regularly dosed paracetamol reduces kidney disfunction.

His team recruited 396 patients in just 18 months, which is a huge achievement in a short amount of time. His technical protocol has also been accepted for publication in Trials, a peer reviewed journal which he’s delighted about. He’s now hoping the trial will deliver some really interesting and important outcomes.

“As acute kidney injury can have long-term health consequences, including increased risk of chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and mortality, it’s important to try and identify a way to prevent and reduce the severity of it in malaria. This could ultimately lead to easing the burden on health services. The cost and availability of paracetamol also means this could be readily implemented”.

Dan says it was interesting to see the different approaches to medicine in Malaysia and collaborate with the doctors there but he’s happy to be back living and working in Darwin. Once he’s finished his PhD, he’ll return to the UK to complete his nephrology training but intends to return to Northern Australia.

“I really want to stay connected to both the research and clinical work here – there’s always fascinating projects happening and I want to spend more time in the hospital with patients. From a personal perspective too, the quality of life here for me and my family is great – I’m cycling to work, there’s no traffic and the coffee is excellent.”