Rose Gana Fomban Leke is a Cameroonian malariologist and Emeritus Professor of Immunology and Parasitology at the University of Yaounde I.
Rose Gana Fomban Leke is a Cameroonian malariologist and Emeritus Professor of Immunology and Parasitology at the University of Yaounde I.
When Leke was growing up she suffered from malaria multiple times, it was a normal part of life. [1] She was first interested in medicine due to treatment she received for lung abscess in Limbe when she was six years old. [2] [3] Her mother never went to school, however her father was a school teacher, and both encouraged her to pursue educational opportunities. [2] [3] She went to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Indiana, US in 1966 for her undergraduate studies, and then University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for her masters degree in the lab of David Silverman. Leke pursued her PhD, titled Murine plasmodia: chronic, virulent and self-limiting infections, at the Université de Montréal, Canada in 1975. [4] [5] [6]
Leke's research has focussed on pregnancy-associated malaria, in which even women who have developed immunity to the severest forms of malaria can be stricken by a life-threatening form of the disease, with implications on the health of the baby. [7] She established a long-time collaboration with Diana Taylor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to investigate this condition. [2] [7] Together they published a study in 2018 that indicated that increased numbers of parasites during pregnancy-associated malaria actually conferred better protection in the baby to future malaria infections, and suggested that a less-severe pregnancy-associated infection may predispose the child towards greater incidence of disease. [8]
Leke has been a senior member of many organisations in the fields of immunology and malaria. Leke established the Cameroon Coalition Against Malaria. [9] She was president of the Federation of African Immunological Societies between 1997 and 2001, as well as a council member of the International Union of Immunological Societies from 1998 to 2004. [7] In 2002 a presidential decree made Leke the Chair of the Board of Directors of Cameroon's National Medical Research Institute. [7] [4] Leke won the 2011 Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award for Women, form the African Union, alongside five other recipients. [7] [9] Leke retired from senior university positions in 2013, when she was head of the Department of Medicine and Director of the Biotechnology Centre at the University of Yaoundé I. [10] University of Ghana invited her for the 2014 Aggrey‐Fraser‐Guggisberg Memorial Lecturer. After that she got Doctor Honoris Causa (DSc) from University of Ghana.[ citation needed ] In 2015 Leke was elected an honorary international fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and established the Higher Institute for Growth in Health Research for Women Consortium to mentor women scientists in Cameroon. [7] [11] [12] During the 2018 World Health Assembly, Geneva, she was honoured as a Heroine of Health by Women in Global Health and General Electric Healthcare, and in 2019 she was ceremonially named Queen Mother of the Cameroon Medical Community, by the Cameroon Medical Council. [13] [14] [15] She is on the World Health Organization Malaria Policy Advisory Committee and the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of Polio Eradication. [1] [2] [10] [15] Rose Leke received the 2023 Virchow Prize for Global Health, honouring her pioneering infectious disease research towards a malaria-free world and relentless dedication in advancing gender equality. The international award is endowed with 500,000 euros and was established by the non-profit Virchow Foundation for Global Health.
Leke has many grandchildren. [3]
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.
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.
Global health is the health of the populations in the worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problems that transcend national borders or have a global political and economic impact are often emphasized. Thus, global health is about worldwide health improvement, reduction of disparities, and protection against global threats that disregard national borders, including the most common causes of human death and years of life lost from a global perspective.
Diseases of poverty are diseases that are more prevalent in low-income populations. They include infectious diseases, as well as diseases related to malnutrition and poor health behaviour. Poverty is one of the major social determinants of health. The World Health Report (2002) states that diseases of poverty account for 45% of the disease burden in the countries with high poverty rate which are preventable or treatable with existing interventions. Diseases of poverty are often co-morbid and ubiquitous with malnutrition. Poverty increases the chances of having these diseases as the deprivation of shelter, safe drinking water, nutritious food, sanitation, and access to health services contributes towards poor health behaviour. At the same time, these diseases act as a barrier for economic growth to affected people and families caring for them which in turn results into increased poverty in the community. These diseases produced in part by poverty are in contrast to diseases of affluence, which are diseases thought to be a result of increasing wealth in a society.
Frederick Wabwire-Mangen is a Ugandan physician, public health specialist and medical researcher. Currently he is Professor of Epidemiology and Head of Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Makerere University School of Public Health. Wabwire-Mangen also serves as the Chairman of Council of Kampala International University and a founding member of Accordia Global Health Foundation’s Academic Alliance
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.
Catherine S. Peckham FFPHM is a British paediatrician.
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Catherine Wilfert was an American pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases. She became a professor at Duke University School of Medicine and known internationally for her work in pediatric HIV prevention. After 1993, using zidovudine during pregnancy led to an estimated reduction of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV in the United States by 75 percent and a 47 percent decrease in new HIV infections globally.
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