Hulda Shaidi Swai | |
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| Born | 1954 (age 69–70) |
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Hulda Shaidi Swai, (born in 1954), is a Tanzanian researcher and professor in life sciences and bioengineering. She is a pioneer in nanomedicine research in the development of drugs against infectious diseases in Africa. Her work focuses in particular on the use of nanotechnology in antimalarial drugs. [1]
Swai was born in 1954 in the village of Vudee in the Same District, Kilimanjaro. She attended secondary schools in the 1970s, and graduated in 1980 from the University of Dar es Salaam with degrees in chemistry and statistics. [2]
In 1985, Swai was awarded a Master of Science in chemical engineering from the Queen Mary University of London. [3] She earned her PhD in biomaterials from the same university in 2000. [2]
Swai worked for nine years as a researcher at the Queen Mary University of London. [4]
From 2001 to 2014, she was a researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa. She heads the Department of Science and Technology / Pan-African Center of Excellence for Research and Training in Applied Nanomedicine. [5]
In 2015, she returned to Tanzania [2] and joined the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) as a professor. She is responsible for leading the NM-AIST's bid for the establishment of a World Bank-funded African Center of Excellence (ACE II project). The NM-AIST was chosen in December 2016 to host two African Centers of Excellence, and she became responsible for the African Center for Research, Agricultural Progress, Excellence in Education and Sustainability (CREATES). [5]
In 2009, Swai joined the Developing Countries Coordinating Committee of the European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). [6] She also sits on several other international expert committees, such as TB Global Alliance, ISHReCA, UNECA, Erasmus Mundus Nanofar, and the editorial board of the Journal of Nanomedicine. [4]
In 2013, Swai was appointed as an extraordinary professor at the University of Pretoria. In 2019, she became president of the African Materials Research Society (AMRS). [5]
In March 2011, Swai organized the first international workshop on nanomedicine for diseases of poverty, in South Africa.
Swai's research on nanomedicine to improve drugs for tuberculosis and malaria is currently in preclinical development. The Malaria Project at CREATES, launched in 2016, received the equivalent of R110,000,000 (US$6 million) from the World Health Organization as a pilot project to prove the potential of nanomedicine in diagnostics and the treatment of diseases. [4]
In 2020, Swai became the holder of the Oliver Tambo Chair (OR Tambo Africa Research Chairs Initiative) [7] in nanotechnology in relation to biomedical health and sustainable agriculture. [5] [8]
Swai is the 2020 recipient of the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Continental Science Award for Scientific Excellence for her work on the use of nanotechnology to study antimalarial drugs. [9] [10]
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects 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.
The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university located in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in 1963, shortly after Tanzania gained its independence from the United Kingdom. In 1970, UEA split into three independent universities: Makerere University in Uganda, the University of Nairobi in Kenya, and the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
The School of Chemistry, University of Sydney is a school of the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney.
The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology is a public institution located in Arusha, a city in northern Tanzania. It forms a part of the network of Pan-African Institutes of Science and Technology spread across the continent.
Leann Tilley is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne.
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Kelly Chibale PhD, MASSAf, FAAS, Fellow of UCT, FRSSAf, FRSC is professor of organic chemistry at the University of Cape Town, and the founder and director of H3D research center and H3D Foundation NPC. In 2018 he was recognised as one of Fortune magazine's top 50 World's Greatest Leaders. His research focuses on drug discovery and the development of tools and models to contribute to improving treatment outcomes in people of African descent or heritage.
Alan Frederick Cowman AC, FRS, FAA, CorrFRSE, FAAHMS, FASP, FASM is an internationally acclaimed malaria researcher whose work specialises in researching the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and the molecular mechanisms it uses to evade host responses and antimalarial drugs. As of May 2024, he is the deputy directory and Laboratory Head of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne, and his laboratory continues to work on understanding how Plasmodium falciparum, infects humans and causes disease. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 2011 and awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019 for his "eminent service to the biological sciences, notably to molecular parasitology, to medical research and scientific education, and as a mentor."
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Silvia Blair Trujillo is a Colombian scientist, known for her research on antimalarial compounds found in traditional plants from her country. During her research career, Blair has received various awards and recognitions, such as the Héctor Abad Gómez Medal to merits in Public Health in 1992, an honorable mention in the area of Basic Experimental Sciences in 2000, a Francisco José de Caldas Medal for University Excellence in 2008, and was named emeritus Professor of the University of Antioquia in 2017.
Joy Wolfram is a Finnish nanoscientist. She is known for her pioneering work in nanomedicine concerning the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other life-threatening illnesses. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, in the school of Chemical Engineering and the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. She was the forefront of the Extracellular Vesicles and Nanomedicine laboratory at Mayo Clinic. She is also an affiliate faculty member at Houston Methodist Hospital's Department of Nanomedecine. Wolfram sits as a scientific advisor and as a board member of several biotechnology companies around the world.
M.S. Muthu is a Pharmaceutical engineer, Scientist, Inventor and one of the twenty Institute Professors at the Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, India. He is a researcher in the fields of nanomedicine, targeted drug delivery, and in theranostics nanomedicine for imaging and therapy.
Mkunde Chachage is a lecturer and researcher in immunology at University of Dar es Salaam Mbeya College of Health and Allied Sciences. She is also a researcher at the National Institute for Medical Research at Mbeya medical research centre. She conducts research in clinical immunology as well as infectious diseases of human including Tuberculosis (TB), HIV and helminths infections.
David A. Fidock, is the CS Hamish Young Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Professor of Medical Sciences at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan.
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. 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). 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.
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