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Malaria causes more than two million deaths in developing countries each year. Young children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable. With no effective vaccine available, the prevalence of the disease is on the rise.

James Beeson is determined to reverse that trend. His work at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne is opening the way to the development of new anti-malarial drugs and vaccines.

Beeson first witnessed the devastating effects of the disease as a medical student in Africa, and later, working as a physician in a Thai refugee camp. "Every morning you'd see woman after woman with malaria," he recalls, "with severe anaemia and very low birth weight babies".

The experience compelled him to undertake a PhD on malaria in pregnancy, involving research in Melbourne and Malawi, south-eastern Africa. Since then, Beeson has spent plenty of time in the field – most recently in Kenya and Papua New Guinea – as well as long hours in the lab.

Those hours of hard work have been highly productive. Beeson has greatly advanced our understanding of how malaria infects pregnant women. "The parasite accumulates in the placenta, so it finds a sort of ecological niche which is great for the parasite, but terrible for the mother and baby," he explains.

He has also revealed several strategies the parasite uses to evade the human immune system, raising hopes that this improved understanding can help in the development of a new vaccine. "I'm more confident than most," he says. "I think we'll have a first generation vaccine within five to ten years, and a more effective, second generation vaccine within 15 years."

Novel experiences are the key to innovative medical research according to Beeson. "Go out and see the kids who are taking part in your studies, go talk to someone who works on mosquitoes rather than on human samples," he says. "A different perspective can open up fresh ideas and insights."

For a full list of the winners of Cosmos Bright Sparks – the country's top 10 scientists under 40 as selected by COSMOS magazine – click here.