Seeing people in Bangladesh die from infectious diseases, Dr. Firdausi Qadri sought to develop a cheaper oral cholera vaccine (OCV) and typhoid conjugate vaccine for infants, children and adults.
Professor Nguyen Thuc Quyen (right) awarded the award to Dr. Firdausi Qadri. Image: Ngoc Thanh
Dr. Firdausi Qadri, 73 years old, was honored with a special award for scientists from developing countries worth 500,000 USD – VinFuture Award 2024 for contributions to innovation and improvement of oral vaccines to prevent cholera in developing countries. She is a Bangladeshi immunologist and infectious disease researcher. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a master’s degree in molecular biology from the University of Dhaka before moving to England to study for a doctorate at the University of Liverpool in 1980. Although she had the opportunity to stay in England, she decided to return. returned to Bangladesh to contribute to his homeland.
During a sharing session with the press in Hanoi on the occasion of receiving the award, Qadri spent a lot of time talking about the people in her hometown and the difficulties in medical conditions. She said, Bangladesh’s population is very large, about 170 million people. Every year, about 79 – 80 million people are at risk of cholera due to lack of clean water or inadequate epidemiological hygiene.
Dr. Qadri began working at the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDE,B) in 1988. She began researching shigella bacteria that cause dysentery and accidentally infected herself with Shigella dysenteriae. She then shifted her research focus to cholera and typhoid, using biochemical, immunological and molecular methods to understand the bacteria that cause these diseases and develop diagnostic tools.
Dr. Qadri began researching shigella bacteria, a major problem that causes many people pain and death today. Later, she turned to studying cholera, an endemic disease in Bangladesh. People living in densely populated areas without clean water, poor sanitation and low education are susceptible to this disease. At that time, very little information was available about what happened when a patient contracted dysentery, cholera, and typhoid.
Dr. Qadri conducted a pivotal trial with 240,000 people to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of a large-scale oral cholera vaccine. In 2017, when Rohingya refugees from Myanmar arrived in Dhaka, their camp was located in an area with one of the highest rates of cholera in the city. Dr. Qadri led a team of experts throughout the mass vaccination program to prevent cholera outbreaks. This is part of efforts to vaccinate 1.2 million high-risk people in Dhaka.
In 2012, she was awarded the Christophe Rodolfe Grand Prize. She used the prize money to establish the Institute for the Advancement of Science and Health Innovation, which opened in 2014 and focuses on genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, Huntington’s disease, and congenital hypothyroidism. When the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, Dr. Qadri was one of the key scientists coordinating the response to the new virus.
In 2021, Dr. Qadri was awarded the Raman Magsaysay Prize for “lifelong passion and dedication to scientific research”. RMAF recognizes Dr. Qadri’s contributions to the fight against cholera and typhoid, especially her role in developing a cheaper oral cholera vaccine (OCV) and typhoid conjugate vaccine for infants, children and adults. According to RMAF, Dr. Qadri is currently the author of 490 articles published in high-impact journals.
She said that in the future, she wants to increase people’s awareness of diseases, especially focusing on women and children. Women are currently at risk of many types of diseases, such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer…. Currently, many countries do not have cancer diagnosis and treatment services available. Therefore, I want to focus on research in this field to improve the health of children and women in general.
She also wants more women to be trained and participate in the scientific field, even though this work takes a lot of time. Often women will hesitate when they have a family. “I myself have three children but can still do science, can still achieve certain successes,” she said and wants to become a role model to encourage women to pursue research fields. science.