Table 2 Main suggestions from the study participants

Dietary and biting habits of mosquito populations

Temporal-spatial trends: changes in mosquito population (e.g. before vs. after Ebola)

Develop new prevention tools based on formulations that are accepted by Liberians (i.e. tablets, lotions)

Develop innocuous alternatives to blood-based malaria tests (e.g. saliva-based oral tests)

Parents’ attitudes towards seeking malaria care for their children when ill

Pathophysiology of malaria with a focus on how it affects pregnant women and children and leads to cerebral malaria

Effectiveness of traditional home remedies and herbalists’ mixes of local herbs to cure malaria

Use point-of-care rapid diagnostic tests when drawing blood specimens from malaria research participants

Test experimental drugs on researchers before administering them to the study populations

Use findings of research to sensitize populations to disregard harmful preventive behaviours (i.e. burning tyres)

Stop using country medicine to treat malaria

Understand the need to follow health authorities’ recommendations to prevent (e.g. ITN) and cure malaria (e.g. biomedical care)

Always return to the communities to share findings of research conducted in Liberia