Join the Department of History and Melissa Graboyes, Associate Professor at the University of Oregon, for a talk on "Reconsidering Rebound Malaria: Zanzibari Voices on Acquired Immunity, Risk, and History."

This paper focuses on a largely overlooked topic: the double- edged sword of successful malaria control, and the fact that by reducing or eliminating the disease for a number of years, local residents are left with faded/lost acquired immunity and the threat of rebound malaria. Rebound malaria epidemics are an uncomfortable topic–a clear example of global health’s unintended consequences. These epidemics run counter to positivist narratives of global health, and force policymakers to confront the harms when malaria elimination programs end or fail. Rarely have the voices, perspectives and preferences of people living in malaria endemic spaces been considered. The paper draws on 98 interviews with Zanzibari residents with questions specifically asking about immunity, acquired immunity, and rebound malaria. 

Melissa Graboyes is a broadly trained expert in African history, medical history, global health, and ethics with over two decades of experience working on the African continent. She is currently Associate Professor in the History Department at the University of Oregon, and the author of The Experiment Must Continue: Medical Research and Ethics in East Africa, 1940-2014 (Ohio University Press, 2015) which is being used by global health and development workers, and co-editor of the award-winning Africa Every Day: Fun, Leisure, and Expressive Culture on the Continent (Ohio University Press, 2019). She has successfully collaborated with scholars in fields such as anthropology, ecology, economics, parasitology, and entomology and is currently the PI on two National Science Foundation grants related to malaria, ethics, and establishing best research practices on the African continent. She is an award-winning instructor, the past Director of the University of Oregon’s African Studies Program, and a founding member of the UO's Global Health Program. She has worked as a public health practitioner in the United States and in East Africa. She earned her Ph.D. in African history and her Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Boston University.  

The Department of History Seminar Series runs throughout the academic year and features guest speakers from the top universities who share their perspectives on history. Visit history.uoregon.edu for more information about the seminar series.