Pedro Alonso, from theUniversity of Barcelona,selected a solidarity heroby Time magazine

摘要

Time magazine devoted its cover story of the November 7, 2005 issue to the fight against diseases that affect developing countries. The magazine highlighted the work carried out by 18 "solidarity heroes", as Time called a group made up of physicians, researchers, and non-governmental organizations. Among these heroes is Pedro Alonso, director of the International Health Center of the Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona and the International Preventive Treatment of Infants (IPTi, see Contributions to Science [2005] 3:111-112). Alonso leads a research team that has focused its work on the development of a vaccine against malaria, a disease that annually kills 1.5-2.7 million people worldwide Expectations regarding the candidate vaccine currently being tested (RTS.S/AS02A) are quite high. A follow-up of 1442 children who were inoculated in 2003 has shown that the vaccine has retained its efficiency over a 1.5-year period. The RTS.S/AS02A vaccine reduced clinical malaria in 35% of vaccinated individuals, and the severe malaria in 49%. These results, published recently in The Lancet and presented at the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria's Pan-African Malaria Conference, held in Yaounde, Cameroon, in November 2005, are very promising. The vaccination project is a* joint venture of the International Health Center in Barcelona, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Bio-logicals, and the Center for Health Research in Manhica, Mozambique, and has received funds from the Bill & Melin-da Gates Foundation.