“Maximizing the use of available data, and progress towards standardization in data collection, is essential to our collective efforts to control and eliminate malaria. Whilst there is a general move towards making data more easily available, effective sharing of data can be far more complex than commonly realised, and requires an appropriate infrastructure and due consideration of ethical, legal, logistical and technical issues. The session on the evidence ecosystem at the Global Evidence Summit provides the perfect opportunity to share the experience of  the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN), who have pioneered effective, ethical and responsible sharing of data on antimalarial drug efficacy, and to learn from colleagues who are committed to producing, sharing and using evidence to save lives.”

Professor Karen Barnes is Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Cape Town, the founding director of the MRC Collaborating Centre for Optimising Antimalarial Therapy and leads the WWARN pharmacology group. Karen has twenty years of experience in malaria research. Her research interests focus on translational research on the clinical pharmacology of antimalarials in order to inform malaria treatment policy and practice – including the comprehensive evaluation of changes in treatment policy and how these impact on antimalarial resistance, optimising dosing in vulnerable populations (young children, pregnant women and patients with HIV/AIDS or malnutrition) in order to delay drug resistance, and the clinical development of much-needed novel antimalarials.

Plenary title: Evidence production fit for purpose?  Sharing data to inform policy and practice – the experience of the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN)