Resistant humans, mosquitos and parasites in Cambodia Producing contested evidence for malaria elimination strategies in the margins of a repellent trial

This thesis aims to contribute to the debate on the validity of knowledge production in global health interventions by exploring how the complex interaction between vector and human behavior, research interventions and disease control policies in the particular context of Cambodia’s indigenous population shaped the production of data for malaria elimination research. Presenting the results from mixed methods studies performed within a cluster-randomized controlled trial measuring the impact of topical repellents on malaria transmission among the indigenous slash-and-burn farming population of Ratanakiri province, the author discusses why no such impact was demonstrated at the end of the trial and reflects on research designs that better capture human practices in ways that are useful to public health interventions.