News & Insights

Faces of Innovation—a new GHTC project that features scientists on the front lines of research and development on new global health tools and technologies—profiles Dr. Peter Hotez, who we met at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Conference, who does research to develop vaccines for neglected tropical diseases as professor and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. My name: Peter Hotez, MD, PhDWhere I work: National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TexasI’m funded by: National Institutes of Health, Department of DefenseMy research: At the National School of Tropical Medicine, we established what’s called the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, which is a non-profit—what’s sometimes called a product development partnership, a PDP. These are non-profit agencies that use industry practices to make stuff—in our case, it’s vaccines. So we’re making vaccines for neglected tropical diseases, the most common afflictions of the world’s poor. We have vaccines for hookworm and schistosomiasis in clinical trials now, and hopefully soon a new Chagas vaccine will go into the clinic. This is co-directed by myself and my science partner for twenty years, Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi. We like to say that we develop the vaccines that no one else will make. Motivation: I have an unusual story in that ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to study tropical diseases. And then I went to Yale as an undergraduate specifically to work at a lab on African sleeping sickness, and then I did the MD-PhD program at Rockefeller-Cornell, the medical scientist training program, where I got started on developing a hookworm vaccine in the laboratory of Anthony Cerami, who let me bring hookworms into the lab. So, this is a lifelong passion and calling, and I think you’ll find that for a lot of researchers, especially here at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.Why federal support is critical: In terms of federal agencies that support us, we have support, of course, from the NIH, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which has been a stalwart supporter of our vaccine development program, but also, the Department of Defense is now supporting our leishmaniasis vaccine program through CDMRP [Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program]. We’re extremely grateful for our federal support. We’d be nowhere without it.…[From] 2015-2016, I was in the Obama Administration—I served as US Science Envoy. There’s a few things going on with that. One, in one of my books, Blue Marble Health, we found that most of the world’s poverty-related neglected diseases are not necessarily in the poorest, most devastated countries of Africa and Asia as many people think, but actually, it’s the poor living among the wealthy in G20 countries, the Group of 20 countries. So, for instance, we now estimate that there are 12 million Americans living in extreme poverty with a neglected tropical disease. [Research] on these diseases is not only helping people abroad, it’s actually helping the poorest Americans. So that’s a very important aspect. Another is—I think in my time as US Science Envoy, one of the things that I kept on seeing is the admiration for America, not because of our military prowess, but because of our research universities and our research institutes. This is why people love America: We’re a science horsepower; the fact that we use our science towards bettering the world, developing new technologies for global health. This is one of the things that makes America great—this is what I tell policymakers and leaders on both sides of the aisle.When I’m not in the lab: One of the things that’s my new passion is—I’ve become a writer. Since moving to Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, I’ve written and published three books, and now about to work on my fourth. So, writing has become a new passion of mine, and it reaches a different audience than scientific papers. It helps to explain why science is important and do that public engagement, and that’s so critical, especially in this time now when we’re seeing this rise in anti-science, anti-vaccine movements. More than ever, we need to do public engagement. That’s why GHTC is so important. It’s a key component of that public engagement.

Faces of Innovation—a new GHTC project that features scientists on the front lines of research and development on new global health tools and technologies—profiles Mohammad Ariful Islam, who we met at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Conference. Ariful researches influenza in Bangladesh with funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.My name: Md. Ariful Islam, MSSc, MPHMy name: Md Ariful Islam, MSS, MPHWhere I work: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) I’m funded by: US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionMy research: We’re doing influenza surveillance in Bangladesh. Surveillance is important to detect novel influenza and to understand what type of influenza strains are circulating Bangladesh. Our surveillance objectives are to identify individuals and clusters of people with life-threatening infections with influenza virus and to characterize the diversity of strains of influenza in circulation in Bangladesh. We’re working in Bangladesh to detect novel influenza strains so that we can take immediate measures if needed.Motivation: Every day we work with patients. We are happy that we can use our efforts for the betterment of people in our country. Influenza is a severe disease for many patients, and if a disease outbreak occurs in Bangladesh, it may spread throughout the world—so I think we are doing a great job for the people. Why US federal support is critical: I believe that influenza is a problem not only for Bangladesh, it’s not only a problem for the US citizen, it is a problem for the whole world. If there is a disease outbreak like bird flu or swine flu, then all of the people in the world will suffer. The US policymakers and funders are doing a great job of funding this project to investigate influenza.When I’m not in the lab: I’m a big fan of cricket, so when I get some time I play with my colleagues. It also keep my body fit. If I want to work more, then I need to exercise more—so I like cricket.

Faces of Innovation—a new GHTC project that features scientists on the front lines of research and development on new global health tools and technologies—profiles Dr. Geoffrey Siwo, who we met at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Conference, who develops mathematical models to accelerate product development at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.My Name: Geoffrey Siwo, PhD.Where I work: University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, IndianaI’m funded by: National Institutes of Health and National Science FoundationMy research: My research is in developing computational methods that impact the way we do science, especially with respect to global health….Basically the goal is to ensure that we can accelerate the way new medicines are brought into the market for diseases like malaria, and so this is why our project is to arrange computation methods, such as artificial intelligence that can have a rapid impact on the way we translate some of the science findings intro practical applications for global health….We believe that artificial intelligence can cut down the time that is needed to do this. One aspect [of our research] is to understand drug resistance, especially for malaria. So for the case of malaria where there is resistance to [the malaria drug] artemisinin, we are inviting data scientists to develop computational models that predict the mechanisms of the resistance and that will help in potential surveillance of resistance.Motivation: I am from Kenya originally, and I am motivated to do this research because malaria is a big problem in Africa and the only way to make a difference is to develop the therapies that directly address the disease.Why federal support is critical: This research has the potential to affect millions of lives. We know that disease has no barriers, and the solutions that we develop for diseases in any part of the world can have an impact on any other part of the world, including the US.When I’m not in the lab: I like reading some novels, especially regarding future technology and the future of the world.