This post originally appeared in the U Office of Global Health newsletter and was published June 2025. This article is republished here with permission.
Dr. Lauren Lajos, M.D., FAAP, the University of Utah’s first fellow in the combined Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Global Health program, is at the forefront of critical research aimed at improving child health in sub-Saharan Africa.
Her work focuses on the understudied intersection of asymptomatic malaria and soil-transmitted helminths (STH) in children—a dual burden that affects millions across the continent.
Partnering with internationally recognized researchers Tracey Lamb, Ph.D., co-chair of the University of Utah Global Health Council and head of the Lamb Lab, and Lawrence Ayong, Ph.D., director of the Malaria Research Unit at the Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, Dr. Lajos is helping lead a multi-institutional effort to better understand and address these overlapping parasitic infections in Cameroon.
The collaboration draws on over a decade of partnership between the University of Utah’s Lamb Lab—renowned for its research on host-pathogen interactions in Plasmodium infections—and the Ayong Lab at Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, one of Cameroon’s premier public health research institutes. The research team also includes scientists and clinicians from the Cameroonian Ministry of Public Health and the Centre Mère et Enfant de la Fondation Chantal Biya, reflecting a multidisciplinary and locally integrated approach to infectious disease research.
As part of her four-year fellowship, Dr. Lajos has led pediatric field studies, supported educational exchanges, and completed multiple clinical rotations in Cameroon. Her work has involved direct care of children suffering from malaria, tuberculosis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, meningitis, and sepsis. Having spent more than 10 months on the ground, she continues to collaborate closely with Cameroonian colleagues on both research and training.
Dr. Lajos has shared her team’s findings at prominent international conferences, including the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s TropMed™ and the American Association of Immunologists’ IMMUNOLOGY2025™. Through her efforts, she is not only advancing the science of pediatric infectious diseases but also championing health equity and global health education.
Her ongoing work underscores the value of sustained, bi-directional global partnerships in tackling some of the most pressing pediatric health challenges of our time.
Photos courtesy of Dr. Lauren Lajos.
Special acknowledgements to Dr. Lamb and the students/staff of Lamb Lab; Dr. Ayong; Dr. Lajos’s Cameroonian colleagues—Dr. Sandrine Nsango, Dr. Paul Koki, Dr. Jean Taguebue, Dr. Nicaise, Christelle M. Poulet, Hugues Clotaire Nana, and the students/staff of Ayong Lab; the children, families, teachers, and health workers of Esse and Mfou School Districts; and the University of Utah Pediatric Infectious Disease Division and Dr. Jeff Robison.
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