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Dr Firdausi Qadri, a Bangladeshi scientist who has been instrumental in discovering vaccines that have saved millions of lives, has received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for her contributions to science.
Published : 31 Aug 2021, 02:06 PM
“The RMAF board of trustees recognises her passion and life-long devotion to the scientific profession; her vision of building the human and physical infrastructure that will benefit the coming generation of Bangladeshi scientists, women scientists in particular, and her untiring contributions to vaccine development, advanced biotechnological therapeutics and critical research that has been saving millions of precious lives,” The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said in a statement on Tuesday.
Dr Qadri is known for her work in the fight against cholera and typhoid, which are major diseases in Bangladesh and across Asian and African countries that have limited access to safe water, sanitation, education and medicine care.
Early in her career, Dr Qadri decided to focus on medical research and, in 1988, joined the International Centre For Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh or icddr,b, an international health research institute based in Dhaka. She specialised in communicable diseases, immunology, vaccine development and clinical trials.
She had a key role in the development of the more affordable oral cholera vaccine and the typhoid conjugate vaccine for adults and children.
In 2014, Dr Qadri founded the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives, which she currently heads. The institute conducts biomedical research and holds training courses and runs a training centre.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after a former Philippine president, recognise Asians who have demonstrated integrity in governance, courageous service to the people and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society.
The 2021 edition of the awards also recognised Muhammad Amjad Saqib of Pakistan, for founding Akhuwat, one of the largest microfinance institutions in the country, and Steven Muncy, a humanitarian who has helped displaced refugees of Southeast Asia rebuild their lives.
