In the current global era of malaria elimination, substantial reductions (~40%) in malaria morbidity and mortality over the past 15 years have been a public health triumph and have led to ambitious malaria elimination targets. Alarmingly, these achievements have stalled and since 2015 global morbidity and mortality has increased. The reasons are unclear, but the rapid emergence and spread of resistance to the first-line antimalarial, artemisinin, changes in the epidemiology of malaria, and difficulties in detecting and eliminating undetected submicroscopic infection are major impediments. This talk will highlight work from my research team which aims to understand naturally acquired immunity to malaria at the population level, which underpins the epidemiology of malaria. By applying high-throughput immunoassays to clinical and epidemiological studies across South-east Asia we have provided important insights into how population-level immunity can explain how drug resistant parasites emerge and spread and how malaria elimination interventions may result in a loss of immunity and resurgences in submicroscopic and clinical malaria and drug resistance. Outcomes of this research can inform the planning of malaria control, elimination and surveillance strategies in areas with significant levels of submicroscopic infection and drug resistance.