In honor of World Malaria Day, ASTMH asked some of our malaria expert members and colleagues what inspired them to specialize in malaria, what stands out in the fight against malaria and what will be the economic benefit of a malaria-free world. Other interviews in this series include: Past President Christopher V. Plowe, MD, MPH, FASTMH; Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer of the President's Malaria Initiative; Philip Rosenthal, MD, FASTMH, Editor-in-Chief of American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Councilors Laurence Slutsker, MD, MPH, FASTMH, David A. Fidock, PhD, Rick Fairhurst, MD, PhD, FASTMH; Stephanie Yanow, PhD, Assistant Scientific Program Chair; Capt. Judith E. Epstein, MD, of the Naval Medical Research Center; and Col. Robert M. Paris of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
What situation or person inspired you to specialize in malaria?
My doctoral mentor, Donald Roberts, PhD, (an ASTMH member for 30 years) of Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, introduced me to the urgency for malaria prevention and control as well as a responsibility to generate awareness of the impact this disease has on the lives of people around the world – even in light of progress achieved in reducing burden. But it wasn’t until the first time that I engaged with a malarious community in the field that I fully appreciated the challenges to malaria prevention. It was then that I made it a definitive career choice. I was in Suriname serving as a temporary PAHO consultant to the Ministry of Health and recalled that it took several hours to drive from the capital of Paramaribo to the point on the Paramaribo River, where we embarked on a four-hour journey by dugout canoe, with motor, to reach the targeted village. Once there, we were received with a gracious welcome, despite many of the people having overt, physical stress from active malaria infections. It made malaria personal to me, incentivized me to dedicate my profession to global health, and more specifically to translational research that continually challenges me to consider accessibility, use, and acceptability by those most in need during the development process of vector control tools.
Saving lives is what drives you, but what do you see as the economic benefit to eradicating malaria?
Most infectious diseases, including malaria, unequally impact persons of the least economically developed countries. The reasons for this are complex and varied, but the inability of infected individuals to effectively engage in personal development, such as education and contributing to the local workforce due to being ill, is a large component of slowed progress in community health. Malaria elimination, and eradication, is expected to result in healthy, strong communities that are an essential component to broader national and regional economic development.
In thinking about malaria control and elimination efforts in the last five years, what stands out most for you?
On the positive side, the progress made by the global health community in reducing mortality and morbidity worldwide is what stands out. On the negative side, the challenges that remain in addressing “residual” transmission not controlled by existing products and strategies, as well as transmission in endemic settings where civil unrest, political conflicts and/or geo-cultural inaccessibility in general severely limits the delivery and distribution of effective malaria control tools at scale.