The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine.
Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by forcing hibernation. However, many were present in northern Europe and northern America in the 17th and 18th centuries before modern understanding of disease causation. The initial impetus for tropical medicine was to protect the health of colonial settlers, notably in India under the British Raj. Insects such as mosquitoes and flies are by far the most common disease carrier, or vector. These insects may carry a parasite, bacterium or virus that is infectious to humans and animals. Most often disease is transmitted by an insect bite, which causes transmission of the infectious agent through subcutaneous blood exchange. Vaccines are not available for most of the diseases listed here, and many do not have cures.
Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions.
The Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, more commonly known by its acronym ACTM is an Australasian medical association founded by 10 interested clinicians, scientists and researchers at the Anton Breinl Centre in Townsville, Australia on 29 May 1991. The ACTM is a preeminent professional organisation in tropical medicine in the Australasian region and claims to have more than 800 fellows and members worldwide. The ACTM is committed to the development of tropical medicine and is working with professionals to help manage the global burden of tropical disease and injury through networking, research and development. The ACTM Secretriat is based at AMA House, Brisbane.
Sir Brian Mellor Greenwood, CBE, FRCP, FRS is a British physician, biomedical research scientist, academic, and recipient of the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize.
Peter Jay Hotez is an American scientist, pediatrician, and advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical disease control. He serves as founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also Director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and Texas Children's Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics, and University Professor of Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. Hotez served previously as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and is a founding Editor-in-Chief of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. He is also the co-director of Parasites Without Borders, a global nonprofit organization with a focus on those suffering from parasitic diseases in subtropical environments.
Jonathan James Juliano is an American physician/scientist. He currently works at UNC School of Medicine.
The Manson Medal, named in honour of Sir Patrick Manson, is the highest accolade the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene awards. Started in 1923, it is awarded triennially to an individual whose contribution to tropical medicine or hygiene is deemed worthy by the council.
Lewis Wendell Hackett was an American physician who worked in Italy, Albania and South America to combat malaria.
Dr. Blasio Vincent Oriedo, in full Dr. Blasio Vincent Ndale Esau Oriedo was an African epidemiologist and a parasitological scientist known for his contributions to tropical medicine and work to stem disease epidemics in colonial and postcolonial Kenya, the countries of East and Central Africa, and the Sudan. He is credited for saving thousands of native African lives from infectious disease. Dr. Oriedo was a recipient of the Extramural Medical Research Grant presented by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
William Erle "Bill" Collins was an American parasitologist.
David Francis Clyde was a British malariologist, tropical physician, and medical school professor, known for his research on malaria vaccines and chemotherapy.
Michele Barry is a professor of medicine. She became Stanford's inaugural Senior Associate Dean of global health in 2009 and started the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health in 2010. Prior to this, she was a professor at Yale, where she started the first refugee health clinic and homeless health mobile van project, for which she was awarded the Elm Ivy Mayor’s Award. She specializes in tropical medicine, emerging infectious diseases, women’s leadership in global health, and human and planetary health.
Claire B. Panosian Dunavan is an emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research considered global health and diseases, including parasitic infections, tuberculosis and malaria. Panosian served as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2008. She is also a science writer, reporter and television presenter.
Azra Catherine Hilary Ghani is a British epidemiologist who is a professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London. Her research considers the mathematical modelling of infectious diseases, including malaria, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and coronavirus. She has worked with the World Health Organization on their technical strategy for malaria. She is associate director of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis.
Professor Ikechukwu Nosike Simplicius Dozie is a professor of Microbiology, a public health scientist, teacher and community health specialist currently serving at the Department of Public Health, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria. He is a member of American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH). Dozie was a consultant to the World Health Organisation; WHO’s African programme for Onchocerciasis. He is the Director, Linkages and Advancement, Federal University of Technology Owerri.
John Andrew Crump MB ChB, MD, DTM&H, FRACP, FRCPA, FRCP is a New Zealand-born infectious diseases physician, medical microbiologist, and epidemiologist. He is Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Global Health at the University of Otago and an Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Global Health at Duke University. He served as inaugural Co-Director of the Otago Global Health Institute, one of the university's research centres. His primary research interest is fever in the tropics, focusing on invasive bacterial diseases and bacterial zoonoses.
Scott Halstead is an American physician-scientist, virologist and epidemiologist known for his work in the fields of tropical medicine and vaccine development. He is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on viruses transmitted by mosquitoes, including Dengue, Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya and Zika. He was one of the first researchers to identify the phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), where the antibodies generated from a first dengue infection can sometimes worsen the symptoms from a second infection.
Joseph Michael Vinetz is a Professor of Medicine and Anthropology at Yale University, Research Professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and Associate Investigator of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute of Tropical Medicine at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.
Richard L. Guerrant is an American physician, medical school professor, and medical researcher, specializing in infectious diseases and tropical medicine.
