R. Geigy Award 2024: Cutting-Edge Research to Control Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases in Côte D’Ivoire
14.11.2024
The 13th R. Geigy Award 2024 goes to West Africa. Scientists from the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire (CSRS) are being honored with the award, which is endowed with CHF 20,000. Siaka Koné is being rewarded for his achievements in establishing long-term cohorts and demographic and health surveillance systems in rural Côte d'Ivoire. Julien Zahouli, Emmanuelle Lisro, Laurence Yao and Marc Adou for their work on the validation of the effect of insecticides on various disease vectors. The award is presented every two years in memory of Rudolf Geigy, founder of Swiss TPH.
The R. Geigy Prize was awarded at a festive ceremony held at Swiss TPH. From left to right: Peter Sasse, Marc Adou, Stefan Mörgeli, Laurence Yao, Mathias Kronig, Emmanuelle Lisro, Julien Zahouli, Siaka Koné and Jürg Utzinger (Photo: D. Powell/Swiss TPH)
This year, the prestigious R. Geigy Award is presented to two research groups at the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS): epidemiologist and health economist Siaka Koné is being honored for his seminal work in setting up the Taabo Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (Taabo HDSS). Julien Zahouli, Emmanuelle Lisro, Laurence Yao and Marc Adou for their work in setting up a state-of-the-art entomology laboratory where the effect of a wide range of insecticides can be tested on deadly mosquitoes.
“In the spirit of Rudolf Geigy, the scientists and their groups made a significant contribution to deepen the understanding of the interactions between communicable and non-communicable diseases and the control of poverty-related diseases in Côte d'Ivoire”, said Jürg Utzinger, President of the R. Geigy Foundation and Director of Swiss TPH.
Taabo HDSS: Health and demographic data to study the interaction of communicable and non-communicable diseases
Siaka Koné heads the Taabo HDSS 150 km north-west of the economic capital Abidjan. The Taabo HDSS regularly collects health-related data and demographic trends in the rural population. Thanks to this unique database in rural Africa, the impact of health interventions in the region can be measured for the first time. A long-term cohort, including a biobank, has been connected to the Taabo HDDS since 2017. Among other things, this allows research into the interaction between infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases. “We are particularly interested in the question of whether people who are exposed to a high burden of infection are at greater risk of developing chronic illnesses later in life,” said Nicole Probst-Hensch, Head of Department at Swiss TPH and Member of the Board at the R. Geigy-Foundation.
New insecticides to control malaria and dengue fever
The research work of Julien Zahouli, Emmanuelle Lisro, Laurence Yao and Marc Adou also focuses on the health priorities of the West African country. The entomologists at the CSRS have a unique laboratory infrastructure at their disposal in the form of the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)-accredited laboratory. In close partnership Swiss TPH and research groups from the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in Tanzania, they test the efficacy of new insecticides to combat disease-transmitting mosquitoes such as Anopheles gambiae (vector of the malaria parasite) and Aedes aegypti (vector of the dengue virus).
“Julien Zahouli, Emmanuelle Lisro, Laurence Yao and Marc Adou have worked together in exemplary fashion to create a sustainable infrastructure and innovations based on it that will allow us to tackle these pressing global health challenges in the years to come,” said Pie Müller, head of the Vector Control unit at Swiss TPH.
About the R. Geigy Award
The award is presented by the R. Geigy Foundation in memory of Rudolf Geigy since 2000. The aim of the award is to recognize scientists who do outstanding work in the research of tropical diseases, neglected diseases or in the field of global public health.
Contact
Jürg Utzinger
Professor, PhD
Director
+41612848129
juerg.utzinger@swisstph.ch
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