At this event, I presented stories of how malaria has played an important role throughout history and influenced conflicts ranging from wars in ancient China to the Vietnam War. Malaria has dramatically shaped modern human evolution and development. This pernicious disease still kills half a million people every year. Moreover, the rapid spread of multi-drug resistant malaria exacerbates the problem and demands urgent action. Joe will demonstrate how his research on parasite genomes can help doctors and policy makers better understand the malaria epidemic.