Award ceremony will bring scientists together to address the most pressing health issues affecting Africa.
The 2015 International UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea Prize for Research in Life Sciences has been awarded to two professors and one doctor in recognition of their efforts to improve the quality of human life.
The Prize recipients are Professor Manoel Barral-Netto, from Brazil, the Chief of Investigation and Director of the Goncalo Moniz Research Centre in Bahia, who has dedicated the majority of his career studying leishmaniasis and malaria as well as the development of control tools for transmittable diseases in neglected, low-income communities; Professor Balram Bhargava, from India, a specialist in cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Science whose work focuses on biomedical innovation, public health and medical education. His work has contributed to the development of innovative, efficient and affordable tools for managing cardiovascular diseases; and the Doctor Amadou Alpha Sall, from Senegal, who is the Chief of the Centre for Collaboration by the World Health Organization for Antivirus, Virus, and Haemorrhaging Fevers in Dakar. Sall has focused primarily on fighting the viral diseases of Ebola and Dengue fever and has been at the forefront of the development and distribution of diagnostic control tools against these diseases.
The UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea Prize will be awarded to the three winners at a ceremony in Paris, France on November 14.
The Prize was created by an initiative from President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and recognises the work and effort by research organizations and scientists in the development realm on real-world problems. This is the third year the prize has been awarded.