In this episode of POFA, we discuss the a groundbreaking malaria vaccine and its potential effects on the developing world with Nobel Laureate Dr. Peter Agre.
Africa has long been plagued by malaria — each year, the disease kills nearly 300,000 African children under 5 years old. But on October 6, the W.H.O. approved the first ever malaria vaccine. 30 years in the making, the RTS,S vaccine has already shown success in field trials. But before it can make an impact, the focus is on vaccine rollout — getting expensive vaccines from production to rural areas in developing nations.
Dr. Peter Agre is currently the Director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, overseeing scientific training and research efforts in Baltimore and field studies in Zambia and Zimbabwe. His focus is in the molecular aspects of human diseases, including blood group antigens, and malaria. Dr. Agre received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovery of the aquaporin water channels and was named a Bloomberg distinguished Professor in 2014.
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