Each year, 100,000 pregnant women and 200,000 newborns die from malaria infection. Infected erythrocytes from the blood circulation of the mother adhere to the blood vessels in the placenta. The research team led by Prof. Javad Hashemi and Sarah Du, PhD, are developing the microfluidic systems with embedded microsensors for a real-time observation of the placentas' cell walls. Their research partner, Prof. Andrew Oleinikow from the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine of FAU has many years of experience in cell systems. Prof. Oleinikov has already investigated the adhesion processes of the infected erythrocytes and has tested drugs that could be anti-adhesive.
 
Sources:
http://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/microsensor-malaria.php
http://med.fau.edu/home/departments/biomedical/oleinikov.php#pub
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4366606/