Professor Phiri holds a position at the University of Malawi but has also set up an independent research institute, the Training and Research Unit of Excellence (TRUE), in 2018. This now employs around 150 people and focuses primarily on malaria and anaemia.
His most notable achievement has been the development of a WHO-recommended malaria chemoprevention strategy. This emerged from studies he undertook on children who had been treated in hospital for severe anaemia. “What we found was that, even after they had been discharged, about 20% of them died.”
In particular, these children were succumbing to malaria in the months immediately after discharge: “I then developed an intervention where we would give the child an antimalarial during that vulnerable three-month period post-discharge, and we found out that actually decreased their risk of dying by close to 90%.”
As well as these major public health gains, Kamija has also been committed to capacity building, training more than 20 PhD students at TRUE.
The prize ceremony took place at the Eleventh EDCTP Forum in Paris, France, on 9 November 2023 and was presented by Dr Thomas Nyirenda, EDCTP Strategic Partnerships & Capacity Development Manager and Head of Africa Office.
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The Scientific Leadership Prize is awarded to scientists who have made significant achievements in their field and will continue to become leaders in their research field. The prize consists of a recognition trophy and a cash prize of €20,000.
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Professor Phiri holds a position at the University of Malawi but has also set up an independent research institute, the Training and Research Unit of Excellence (TRUE), in 2018. This now employs around 150 people and focuses primarily on malaria and anaemia.
His most notable achievement has been the development of a WHO-recommended malaria chemoprevention strategy. This emerged from studies he undertook on children who had been treated in hospital for severe anaemia. “What we found was that, even after they had been discharged, about 20% of them died.”
In particular, these children were succumbing to malaria in the months immediately after discharge: “I then developed an intervention where we would give the child an antimalarial during that vulnerable three-month period post-discharge, and we found out that actually decreased their risk of dying by close to 90%.”
As well as these major public health gains, Kamija has also been committed to capacity building, training more than 20 PhD students at TRUE.
The prize ceremony took place at the Eleventh EDCTP Forum in Paris, France, on 9 November 2023 and was presented by Dr Thomas Nyirenda, EDCTP Strategic Partnerships & Capacity Development Manager and Head of Africa Office.
The Scientific Leadership Prize is awarded to scientists who have made significant achievements in their field and will continue to become leaders in their research field. The prize consists of a recognition trophy and a cash prize of €20,000.
Read more