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Tanzanian scientist wins sickle cell research award
BY THE GUARDIAN REPORTER
20th September 2011
Dr Julie Makani
A Tanzanian scientist, Dr Julie Makani, has this year won the Royal Society's Pfizer Award. Dr Makani, who is based in the Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, has been working on anaemia in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients at Muhimbili National Hospital.
A statement issued by the British High Commission and availed to this paper said Tanzania had one of the highest annual birth rates of SCD in the world, estimated to be between 8,000 and 11,000 births every year.
"Without treatment between 50 per cent and 90 per cent will die in early childhood, and over 5 per cent of infant mortality in Tanzania may be attributable to SCD," said the statement.
Dr Makani will be awarded £60,000 towards a 12-month study which aims to provide a better understanding of the molecular, genetic and environmental mechanisms of the disease.
The statement said further that the prize money, provided through a grant from Pfizer Inc., would allow Dr Makani to extend a clinical trial which she was currently leading.
Dr Makani hoped that the research would lead to improved diagnosis and treatment, thereby reducing the burden of anaemia to individuals, the health system and the local community.
In addition to the award grant, a personal prize of £5,000 would be presented to Dr Makani at a ceremony on October 18, 2011 at the Royal Society in London, the oldest scientific academy in the world in continuous existence.
Commenting on her work and the prize, she said, "It is an honour for our work to receive this recognition. I hope that this award will help change the perception about science and technology in Africa, as it provides validation that it is possible to conduct genomic research in the continent.
The recognition of our work by the Royal Society and Pfizer will serve to show that is possible to develop excellence in science, while integrating this into improving healthcare and building expertise in sickle cell anaemia."
The Royal Society is a fellowship of the world's most eminent scientists. Fellows and foreign members, who are elected for life on the basis of scientific excellence, have included Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein, Dorothy Hodgkin, Francis Crick, James Watson and Stephen Hawking.
There are currently approximately 1,500 fellows and foreign members, including more than 70 Nobel laureates. Awards for outstanding achievement are made each year in the form of medals, prizes and prize lectureships.
Source:
:: IPPMEDIA
BY THE GUARDIAN REPORTER
20th September 2011
Dr Julie Makani
A Tanzanian scientist, Dr Julie Makani, has this year won the Royal Society's Pfizer Award. Dr Makani, who is based in the Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, has been working on anaemia in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients at Muhimbili National Hospital.
A statement issued by the British High Commission and availed to this paper said Tanzania had one of the highest annual birth rates of SCD in the world, estimated to be between 8,000 and 11,000 births every year.
"Without treatment between 50 per cent and 90 per cent will die in early childhood, and over 5 per cent of infant mortality in Tanzania may be attributable to SCD," said the statement.
Dr Makani will be awarded £60,000 towards a 12-month study which aims to provide a better understanding of the molecular, genetic and environmental mechanisms of the disease.
The statement said further that the prize money, provided through a grant from Pfizer Inc., would allow Dr Makani to extend a clinical trial which she was currently leading.
Dr Makani hoped that the research would lead to improved diagnosis and treatment, thereby reducing the burden of anaemia to individuals, the health system and the local community.
In addition to the award grant, a personal prize of £5,000 would be presented to Dr Makani at a ceremony on October 18, 2011 at the Royal Society in London, the oldest scientific academy in the world in continuous existence.
Commenting on her work and the prize, she said, "It is an honour for our work to receive this recognition. I hope that this award will help change the perception about science and technology in Africa, as it provides validation that it is possible to conduct genomic research in the continent.
The recognition of our work by the Royal Society and Pfizer will serve to show that is possible to develop excellence in science, while integrating this into improving healthcare and building expertise in sickle cell anaemia."
The Royal Society is a fellowship of the world's most eminent scientists. Fellows and foreign members, who are elected for life on the basis of scientific excellence, have included Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein, Dorothy Hodgkin, Francis Crick, James Watson and Stephen Hawking.
There are currently approximately 1,500 fellows and foreign members, including more than 70 Nobel laureates. Awards for outstanding achievement are made each year in the form of medals, prizes and prize lectureships.
Source:
:: IPPMEDIA