November 25, 2025
In October 2024, I was given the opportunity to visit the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) team at The Kids Research Institute in Perth for an introduction on the techniques of geospatial mapping and analysis. This opportunity was supported by the ACREME MASTER-MAP Travel and Training Award which covered my travel and accommodation costs.
During the time of the visit, I was a third-year PhD student at the Menzies School of Health Research and Charles Darwin University. My PhD thesis was on the screening and diagnosis of the inherited blood disorder glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in relation to P. vivax malaria elimination efforts. One of the projects was to describe and map the prevalence and genetic variants of G6PD deficiency in Indonesia, and I was also aiming to join a separate collaborative project that will update the global map of G6PD deficiency prevalence and genetic variants.
Upon arrival at the institute, I met with MAP team co-leader Professor Pete Gething and the head of the model development team, Tasmin Symons, to discuss what was to be the content of my 5-day visit to Perth. Due to the time constraint, we decided that I should familiarise myself with and learn the basic skills required to generate geospatial model-based maps, to support my PhD project and serve as a basis for the upcoming collaboration on the global map.
During my stay, I learned the basics of using QGIS and R, generating a geospatial map with the R-INLA package, and displaying the generated map with the leaflet package. I also met with Senior Research Officer Michael McPhail for a beginner-friendly explanation on the mathematical and statistical modelling from which the R packages generate the models from and to discuss how these modelling approach can be applied to my G6PD deficiency mapping projects.
Overall, the visit was a deeply enriching experience for me. It enables me to learn and discover tools that are relevant to my work and exposed me to novel approaches and considerations for my projects. I was also introduced to the incredibly talented and kind MAP team, whom I am hoping to continuously collaborate with in the future. Since the visit, I have completed my article on mapping the prevalence and genetic variants of G6PD deficiency in Indonesia, the manuscript of which has been submitted for publication and is currently under review.
Arkasha Sadhewa, Menzies School of Health Research