GHTC

Celebrating partnerships & policymakers
driving global health innovation

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Innovating for Impact

About the Innovating for Impact Awards

The Innovating for Impact Awards honor the multisector partnerships and policymakers helping to transform breakthrough scientific research into lifesaving drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, and other health tools for unmet global health challenges.

The initiative annually recognizes one research partnership that has advanced a game-changing global health technology and two US members of congress whose actions have furthered policies and political will to accelerate innovation to tackle the world’s most threatening diseases and health conditions. In 2022, GHTC has added a special Lifetime of Service award to recognize the extraordinary contributions Dr. Anthony Fauci has made to advancing global health innovation throughout his career.

  • Cory Booker

    2024 Honoree 2024 Honoree

    Senator Cory Booker

    Congressional Champion Award

    As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, Senator Cory Booker has established a reputation as a top champion for global health innovation. During his decade in the Senate, he has sponsored numerous bills to bolster health research and development. Senator Booker introduced the Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies (SIGHT) Act to create a dedicated health research program at the US Agency for International Development, as well as the STOP Neglected Diseases of Poverty Act to boost research against diseases that disproportionally impact impoverished communities both abroad and at home and the PREDICT Act to improve infectious disease monitoring. He is also a cosponsor of the PASTEUR Act to advance incentives for antibiotic development.

    Widely recognized for his compassionate, empathic, and bipartisan approach to policymaking, Senator Booker has touted the importance of maintaining US leadership in global health. “Threats to global health are an international security issue, and we must make significant advancements to protect the health and well-being of not only Americans, but people around the world,” he has said.

  • Cory Booker
    Quote

    The United States must continue to strengthen our commitment to global health innovation. Investing in USAID’s research and development of transformative health technologies will help us  address the most pressing challenges facing our global community. The SIGHT Act is a critical step toward improving our nation’s ability to respond directly to health emergencies worldwide with cutting-edge, lifesaving technology.

    Senator Cory Booker
    Congressional Champion Honoree

  • Susan Collins

    2024 Honoree 2024 Honoree

    Senator Susan Collins

    Congressional Champion Award

    Senator Susan Collins has been a steadfast champion for medical research and global health programs during her nearly three decades in the Senate. As Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Senator Collins has played a pivotal role in protecting and expanding funding for global health research at the National Institutes of Health and other key agencies. Additionally, over her career, she has supported several critical bills to bolster global health innovation, including introducing the Reach Every Mother and Child Act to advance innovative tools to end preventable child and maternal deaths and cosponsoring the 2021 PASTEUR Act to boost antibiotic development and the 2019 End Tuberculosis Now Act to catalyze new tools to combat tuberculosis.

    Recognized for her ability to reach across the aisle to forge bipartisan solutions, Senator Collins keenly understands the potential of health research investments. “Biomedical research holds tremendous promise for treating many of the most costly and devastating diseases we face,” she has stressed.

  • Susan Collins
    Quote

    Nearly all maternal and child deaths occur in the developing world, and each year, millions of these deaths occur because of treatable or preventable causes….It is vital that the United States continue to provide global leadership in the areas of maternal, newborn, and child health.”

    Senator Susan Collins
    Congressional Champion Honoree

  • Novel Oral Polio Vaccine Type 2

    2024 Honoree 2024 Honoree

    Novel Oral Polio Vaccine Type 2

    Partnership Award

    Honoring: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Bio Farma; Cevaxin; US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Fighting Infectious Diseases in Emerging Countries; US Food and Drug Administration; icddr,b; Intravacc; London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia; UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; UNICEF; University of Antwerp; University of California, San Francisco; World Health Organization; and all partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

    Polio is a devastating infectious disease that can lead to permanent paralysis or death among those affected. Thanks to global vaccination efforts, the number of worldwide polio cases has dropped by 99 percent since 1988. The first-generation oral polio vaccine was a key tool in driving this progress; it prevents person-to-person transmission and is affordable and easily delivered. However, in rare cases, this vaccine, which is made from a weakened form of the virus, can lead to outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio in communities with low immunization coverage. Because the world has achieved such stunning success in reducing polio, these variant cases today outnumber wild polio cases, posing a significant barrier to eradication.

    To address this challenge, a constellation of global partners came together to develop the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), a next-generation oral vaccine that offers the same advantages as its predecessor but has been engineered to be less likely to cause variant cases. In 2020, nOPV2 became the first-ever vaccine to be authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization, and since then, more than a billion doses have been delivered to children in high-risk settings. nOPV2 is a testament to the power of global partnerships and a groundbreaking innovation bringing us closer to a polio-free world.

  • Novel Oral Polio Vaccine Type 2
    Quote

    The nOPV2 development project exemplifies PATH’s broad technical expertise and approach to partnership. In our work as convener of this consortium, we ensured alignment at multiple levels, from strategic vision to day-to-day tasks, in a dynamic environment. This allowed consortium partners to deliver significant impact at an accelerated pace, with nOPV2 becoming WHO’s first vaccine Emergency Use Listing.

    Dr. John Konz
    Global Head,Viral Diseases, PATH

    Quote

    The fight against polio has always been a story of partnerships…So many countries, partners, and people came together to develop this vaccine. This nOPV2 journey is an example of pushing the boundaries of innovation and doing it as a global team.

    Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay
    Deputy Director of Technology, Research, and Analytics, Polio Team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Thanks to our 2024 Awards Selection Committee

Dr. Tom Inglesby
Dr. Tom Inglesby

Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

Dr. Nancy Messonnier
Dr. Nancy Messonnier

Dean and Bryson Distinguished Professor in Public Health, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Pubic Health

Dr. Kristie Mikus
Dr. Kristie Mikus

Executive Director, Global Health Technologies Coalition

Dr. Izukanji Sikazwe
Dr. Izukanji Sikazwe

CEO, Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia

Dr. William Steiger
Dr. William Steiger

Advisor, Global Health, George W. Bush Institute

Meet our Past Honorees

Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator
Sherrod Brown

Congressional Champion Award

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Senator Todd Young
Senator
Todd Young

Congressional Champion Award

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 Dr. Anthony Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci

Lifetime of Service Award

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Senator John Boozman
Senator
John Boozman

Congressional Champion Award

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Senator Patty Murray
Senator
Patty Murray

Congressional Champion Award

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 CARB-X

CARB-X

Partnership Award

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Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
Congresswoman
Anna Eshoo

Congressional Champion Award

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Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart
Congressman
Mario Diaz-Balart

Congressional Champion Award

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Senator Roy Blunt
Senator
Roy Blunt

Congressional Champion Award

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Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
Congresswoman
Rosa DeLauro

Congressional Champion Award

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Congressman Tom Cole
Congressman
Tom Cole

Congressional Champion Award

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Senator Chris Coons
Senator
Chris Coons

Congressional Champion Award

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