Halidou Tinto

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Halidou Tinto is a Professor of parasitology and global health scientist with research that has contributed to understanding and combating malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. [1] Tinto founded the Clinical Research Unit of Nanaro (CRUN) in Burkina Faso as part of the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS). [2] Tinto is now the Regional Director of the IRSS, and throughout his career he has contributed to the study of antimalarial drug resistance and the development of malaria vaccines. [1]

Contents

Tinto grew up in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, but continued his professional studies across various countries. [2] Tinto attended the University of Mali to study pharmacy, before obtaining  a master's degree in microbiology and biochemistry from the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. [1] Briefly leaving the continent of Africa, Halidou Tinto went on to pursue his PhD at the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp.

Early years and education

Halidou Tinto grew up in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. As a teenager in the 1980s, his initial career aspiration was to become a famous musician, with him even recording a few singles. His eye turned from music to more formal schooling due to encouragement from his father. [2] Tinto commenced his higher education with pharmaceutical studies at the University of Mali School of Medicine and Pharmacy. [2] During his studies, he took on an internship from 1995 to 1999 at Centre Muraz in Burkina Faso. [3] Much of his later research was inspired from his work in Tinga Robert Guiguemdé's lab at Centre Muraz. [2] As a research associate, he studied the epidemiology of antimalarial drug resistance. [3]

In 1998, Halidou Tinto furthered his studies by obtaining a master's degree in applied microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. [1] Following his postgraduate studies, Tinto moved to Denmark for a year, where he worked on the development of new malaria combating drugs, at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy. Upon return to Burkina Faso in 2001, he held his second research associate position, but this time at the Institute for Health Sciences Research (IRSS). [3] Going back to Europe in 2003, Tinto completed his PhD studies in 2006 at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. [3] His PhD focused on antimalarial drug resistance through the examination of mechanisms of malaria parasites. [2]

Career

Founding the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro

After completing his PhD in Belgium, Halidou Tinto turned down an opportunity to work at the University of Ohio, and instead returned to the IRSS in Burkina Faso to establish his own research unit. [2] By 2009, Tinto had created the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN) as part of the IRSS. [3] This unit was a standout across the continent of Africa due to its advanced infrastructure that meets the international standards to run clinical trials. [2] CRUN has developed into an equipped center that has the means to test new interventions in a GCP-compliant setting. [3] Upon its founding, CRUN only staffed 10 people, but has now developed into a 600 person workforce. Their 27 projects span areas including malaria, bacterial infections, nutrition, and cardiometabolic diseases. [2] Halidou Tinto oversaw the conduction of over 30 clinical trials at CRUN, including the GSK RTS,S phase 3 malaria vaccine trials. [4]

R21 vaccine achievements

Following 2014 up until 2022, through the IRSS in Burkina Faso, Halidou Tinto worked with Oxford University on the development of an improved RTS,S malaria vaccine, called R21/Matrix-M. [5] Tinto's research, funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 2 (EDCTP2), Wellcome Trust, and NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, [6] conducted a clinical trial that found the new R21 vaccine to have an improved efficacy of 77% when given with a higher adjuvant dose in the 12 months following the initial 3 dose regimen. [7] This was an achievement in Tinto's career as he was the Principal Investigator in these phase 2 trials, which led to the R21 being the only malaria vaccine to meet WHO's 75% efficacy standard. [1] His research, published in 2021, and gaining WHO approval in 2022, [7] was the first achievement of its kind in the history of malaria vaccine development. [8]

Appointments and awards

Appointments

Awards

Tinto has also received several awards from the Europea Business Academy and its subsidiary, the "Academic Union, Oxford", which sell "fake awards", [9] as below.

Related Research Articles

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Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other vertebrates. Human malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin 10 to 15 days after being bitten by an infected Anopheles mosquito. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria.

MVA85A is a vaccine against tuberculosis developed by researchers led by Professor Helen McShane at Oxford University. It is a viral vector vaccine and consists of an MVA virus engineered to express the 85A antigen once it infects a host cell. 85A is a cell-wall protein of the tuberculosis bacillus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PATH (global health organization)</span> Global health nonprofit

PATH is an international, nonprofit global health organization. PATH is based in Seattle with 1,600 employees in more than 70 countries around the world. Its president and CEO is Nikolaj Gilbert, who is also the Managing Director and CEO of Foundations for Appropriate Technologies in Health (FATH), PATH's Swiss subsidiary. PATH focuses on six platforms: vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices, system, and service innovations.

Malaria vaccines are vaccines that prevent malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease which annually affects an estimated 247 million people worldwide and causes 619,000 deaths. The first approved vaccine for malaria is RTS,S, known by the brand name Mosquirix. As of April 2023, the vaccine has been given to 1.5 million children living in areas with moderate-to-high malaria transmission. It requires at least three doses in infants by age 2, and a fourth dose extends the protection for another 1–2 years. The vaccine reduces hospital admissions from severe malaria by around 30%.

Serum Institute of India (SII) is an Indian biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals company, based in Pune. It is the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines. It was founded by Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966 and is a part of Cyrus Poonawalla Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Malaria Network Trust</span> Non-governmental organization

The African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET) is a pan-African international NGO headquartered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It originally started its activities as African Malaria Vaccine Testing Network (AMVTN) in 1995 with the primary goal of preparing Africa in planning and conducting malaria vaccine trials. In order to widen the scope in malaria interventions, AMVTN was succeeded by AMANET on 14 March 2002. Although the primary goal of AMANET has remained malaria vaccine development, the organization in its expanded role includes other intervention measures such as antimalaria drugs and vector control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health in Burkina Faso</span>

A landlocked sub-Saharan country, Burkina Faso is among the poorest countries in the world—44 percent of its population lives below the international poverty line of US$1.90 per day —and it ranks 185th out of 188 countries on UNDP's 2016 Human Development Index .Rapid population growth, gender inequality, and low levels of educational attainment contribute to food insecurity and poverty in Burkina Faso. The total population is just over 20 million with the estimated population growth rate is 3.1 percent per year and seven out of 10 Burkinabe are younger than 30. Total health care expenditures were an estimated 5% of GDP. Total expenditure on health per capita is 82 in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Health Trust</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arterolane</span> Chemical compound

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Pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) or placental malaria is a presentation of the common illness that is particularly life-threatening to both mother and developing fetus. PAM is caused primarily by infection with Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the four species of malaria-causing parasites that infect humans. During pregnancy, a woman faces a much higher risk of contracting malaria and of associated complications. Prevention and treatment of malaria are essential components of prenatal care in areas where the parasite is endemic – tropical and subtropical geographic areas. Placental malaria has also been demonstrated to occur in animal models, including in rodent and non-human primate models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RTS,S</span> Malaria vaccine

RTS,S/AS01 is a recombinant protein-based malaria vaccine. It is one of two malaria vaccines approved. As of April 2022, the vaccine has been given to 1 million children living in areas with moderate-to-high malaria transmission, with millions more doses to be provided as the vaccine's production expands. 18 million doses have been allocated for 2023-2025. It requires at least three doses in infants by age 2, with a fourth dose extending the protection for another 1–2 years. The vaccine reduces hospital admissions from severe malaria by around 30% and reduces toddler deaths by 15%.

Sanaria is a biotechnology company developing vaccines protective against malaria and other infectious diseases as well as related products for use in malaria research. Sanaria's vaccines are based on the use of the sporozoite (SPZ) stage of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, as an immunogen, and as a platform technology for liver-vectored gene delivery. SPZ are normally introduced into humans by mosquito bite where they migrate to the liver and further develop to liver stages, and eventually back into the blood stream where the parasite infects red blood cells (RBC) and causes malaria. Plasmodium falciparum is the species responsible for more than 95% deaths caused by malaria. The WHO estimates there were 249 million clinical cases and 608,000 deaths in 2022 alone.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdoulaye Djimdé</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Halidou Tinto". achievementscenter.com. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Samarasekera, Udani (2022-08-01). "Halidou Tinto—leading top-quality research in malaria in Burkina Faso". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 22 (8): 1129. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00465-0. ISSN   1473-3099. PMID   35870467. S2CID   250935693.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Halidou Tinto | The AAS". www.aasciences.africa. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Leadership – CRUN" . Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  5. ↑ "Game changers: Tinto, Muyembe, Wonkam…Pioneers of African health". The Africa Report.com. 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  6. ↑ "Malaria Consortium - R21 malaria vaccine gives up to 80 percent protection". www.malariaconsortium.org. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  7. 1 2 "Malaria: New vaccine candidate shows efficacy in clinical trials". www.medicalnewstoday.com. 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  8. ↑ "Malaria vaccine data 'best yet'". SciDev.Net. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  9. ↑ Kenber, Billy (24 July 2017). "Oxford university in fake awards farce". Thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
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