Home>>Awards, Fellowships & Medals

2025 ASTMH Awards Ceremony 

Click on the following awards for more information about their honorees:

 
Donald Krogstad Award for Early-Career Malian Scientists

Professor Dominic Kwiatkowski Fellowship
 
2025 Alan J. Magill Fellow
 
Distinguished International Fellows

Communications Award		 Bailey K. Ashford Medal
 

Clara Southmayd Ludlow Medal
 
Ben Kean Medal
 
Walter Reed Medal













Donald Krogstad Award for Early-Career Malian Scientists
Salif Thaim
USTTB, Mali

Proposal: Investigating the Association Between Microbiota and Deltamethrin Resistance in Anopheles gambiae Mosquitoes: A Field-Based Experimental Study in Mali

This study examines the potential influence of microbiota on deltamethrin resistance within the Anopheles gambiae complex. If confirmed, this microbial association could serve as a basis for identifying novel resistance biomarkers or microbial targets for innovative control strategies.

Professor Dominic Kwiatkowski Fellowship
Catherine Bakari Mvaa
National Institute of Medical Research, Tanzania

Proposal: Technology Transfer and piloting of Whole Genome Sequencing of Plasmodium falciparum Using Oxford Nanopore to Support Malaria Molecular Surveillance in Tanzania

This proposal seeks to secure a fellowship which will support the transfer and implementation of a novel, optimized ONT-WGS workflow for MMS in Tanzania. The project will fully characterize P. falciparum genomic variations such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and structural variants (SVs), unlocking the ability to address broader questions about parasite evolution, drug resistance, transmission dynamics, and diagnostic evasion. By combining rapid, field-adaptable long-read sequencing with cutting-edge enrichment strategies, this project introduces an innovative, scalable approach tailored for low-resource settings, while supporting my transition into an independent postdoctoral role.

2025 Alan J. Magill Fellow
Antoine Dara
USTTB, Mali

I am an Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics at the University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako in Mali. I have a strong background in molecular biology, genomics and bioinformatics applied to pathogen detection, drug resistance and host-pathogen interactions.

Genomics research capacity is growing in many African countries, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the sustainability of genomics capacity will require skilled leaders with genomics expertise and collaborations. Through the Alan J. Magill fellowship, my goal within the next 2 years is to gain leadership training and experience that will allow me to take a leading role in integrating genomics approaches into disease control in Africa, as well as mentoring the next generation of African genomics and bioinformatics researchers.

Mentors
  • Shannon Takala Harrison
  • Abdoulaye Djimde

Distinguished International Fellows

Richard Allan
The MENTOR Initiative, France

Dr. Allan has dedicated his professional life to combating tropical diseases among populations affected by humanitarian crises. For over three decades, he has worked tirelessly to ensure access to life-saving interventions for isolated and displaced people in war zones and natural disasters across Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America. Dr Allan has been the driving force for the technical and operational capacity development of academic groups, UN agencies, NGO, private sector and affected communities in this specialist field and also the development of innovative tools designed to protect vulnerable communities, particularly the forced displaced; work rooted in extensive research evidenced in more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.

Quique Bassat
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Spain

Dr. Bassat is pediatrician, researcher, infectious disease epidemiologist, and globallyrecognized
leader in many areas of Tropical Medicine and International Health. He has dedicated years to reducing health inequities among children in high-mortality settings, and brings a thoughtful, creative, and ground-breaking approach to research that leads to solutions. He has accomplished an impressive amount in the field of tropical medicine and has shown incredible commitment to service and to training the next generation of
scientists. He is also extremely dedicated to ASTMH and its mission.

Daniel Boakye
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research/The ENDFUND, Ghana

Pro. Boakye is recognized for his extensive contributions to the study and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). His research, mentorship and leadership in medical entomology have significantly advanced global health efforts, and his legacy in NTD research, policy development and mentorship are truly remarkable. His contributions to the WHO, The END Fund and multiple African countries highlight his deep commitment to eradicating NTDs and improving public health.

Kelly Chibale
University of Cape Town, South Africa

Prof. Chibale has had an extraordinary impact in the battle against infectious diseases in Africa specifically in relation to antimalarial and antimycobacterial drug discovery and development. His work has directly led to the identification of antimalarial drug candidates that have reached advanced stages of clinical development. In recognition of his vast impact, Kelly is the closing plenary speaker at the ASTMH 2025 Annual Meeting. He is recognized for his exceptional scholarly accomplishments, his global leadership in drug discovery and development against infectious diseases, his pioneering work in establishing drug development infrastructure in Africa, and his international recognition including as the recipient of multiple awards and honors.

Chetan Chitnis
Institut Pasteur, France

Prof. Chitnis has made seminal contributions to malaria research, significantly advancing our understanding of erythrocyte invasion by malaria parasites and paving the way for the development of novel vaccines against Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum. He is a scientist of exceptional caliber whose pioneering research, leadership, and mentorship have profoundly advanced the fight against malaria. His contributions to vaccine development, scientific training, and professional service have had a transformative impact on both scientific understanding and public health outcome.

Colleen Lau
Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Australia

Prof. Lau is being recognized for her outstanding contributions to tropical medicine and global health and her passion for advancing the surveillance and control of lymphatic filariasis in the Pacific Region, which has been instrumental in driving progress toward elimination goals. Her innovative research has provided critical insights into the epidemiology of infectious diseases, directly influencing policymaking, public health strategies, and disease control programs. She also is a distinguished leader in tropical medicine and global health.

Mauricio Nogueira
Faculdade de Medicina de São Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil

Since 2004, Dr. Noguiera has developed one of the most impactful research programs in the world on arboviruses. Many of his most seminal contributions resulted from his major in studying the Zika epidemic in Brazil, including important work on diagnosis, spatial dynamics of cases and vector distributions using remote sensing. Perhaps his greatest single contribution to tropical medicine is Dr. Nogueira’s effort to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new, live-attenuated NIH-Butantan dengue vaccine in Brazil. Under his leadership, new vaccines against two of the most impactful tropical arboviral diseases have been validated in Brazil to be safe and effective.

Punnee Pitisuttithum
Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Thailand

Dr. Punnee has made substantial contributions as an internationally recognized educator, clinical investigator, and expert advisor. She is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Clinical Tropical Medicine at Mahidol University’s Faculty of Tropical Medicine in Bangkok and the current Project Chair of the University’s Vaccine Trial Center, which she founded in 2014. Her CV lists 17 appointments to national level advisory positions in Thailand including service since 2010 on the National Advisory Subcommittee on Immunization Practices. She is a leader in her field and has had and will continue to have a remarkable impact on clinical tropical medicine and vaccinology.

Takafumi Tsuboi
Ehime University, Japan

Dr. Tsuboi is considered one of the world’s leading malaria vaccinologists, making major contributions to our understanding of the construction of any vaccines, particularly of malaria. After obtaining his MD-PhD degrees from Ehime University, he immediately became an instructor in the Department of Parasitology at Ehime University School of Medicine. During that time, he embarked on postdoctoral training, as a visiting scientist, to the University of Notre Dame for a year. After moving back to Japan, Dr. Tsuboi initiated his own independent research and made a significant contribution to the field of a transmission-blocking vaccine against malaria.

2025 Communications Award
The Free-Living Bureaucrat
By Michael Lewis
The Washington Post
March 13, 2025

In this current era of deep cuts to funding the FDA and other federal agencies devoted to improving human health, this story highlights the importance of supporting scientific expertise in the US Government that has been built over so many years.

Bailey K. Ashford Medal

Gordon A. Awandare
University of Ghana, Africa

Prof. Awandare is a global leader in the field of global health, both through his own research into the biology, immunology and pathogenesis of malaria parasites, and through the simply incredible impact he has had by founding and leading the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the University of Ghana. Conceived by Prof. Awandare and founded in 2014, this centre of research excellence has rapidly become a globally recognised lodestone for the African diaspora, with an extraordinary record of
funding, infrastructure and training the next generation of West African researchers, from graduate students to independent group leaders.

In a Society full of remarkable people, Prof. Awandare truly stands out. He is an innovative original researcher, who has contributed significantly to our understanding of how malaria parasites recognise and invade human red blood cells, as well as the immunology and pathogenesis of malaria. His commitment to African research and African researchers has genuinely changed the research landscape in Ghana and West Africa, building an inspirational and vibrant research centre with a focus on career development and support that has already
generated a lasting legacy in research outputs and trainees. His unmatched enthusiasm for science, his support for scientists across all career stages, and his vibrant and compelling approach to collaboration and leadership is truly extraordinary.

Lauren M. Cohee
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom

Dr. Cohee has transformed our understanding of malaria’s burden—particularly in school-aged children—and has been a tireless advocate for health equity through capacity building, mentorship, and policy translation. She is a transformational leader in tropical medicine whose work has shifted paradigms, informed policy, and empowered the next generation of scientists.

As a co-investigator in the Malawi International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR) and now a project leader, Dr. Cohee led community- and facility-based cross-sectional and cohort studies that quantified the burden of malaria in school-age children and identified this age group as key drivers of P. falciparum transmission. While immunity to malaria disease but not infection as children get older was part of malaria “dogma”, it was not until Dr. Cohee’s systematic, rigorous and well-communicated studies in Malawi and throughout sub-Saharan Africa, that the high burden of malaria infection in school-age children became better recognized.

Daniel T. Leung
University of Utah, United States

Dr. Leung is a fantastic physician-scientist dedicated to understanding and improving the burden of persistent diseases and problems in low-income countries, especially diarrheal disease and antibiotic resistance. He is a committed and invested mentor for our next generation of scientists, globally, and provides a wide breadth of exceptional service to his local institution and professional societies, including currently serving as the president of ASTMH’s American Committee on Clinical Tropical Medicine and Travelers' Health (Clinical Group).

His research strives to understand the mucosal immune mechanisms that underlying risk of infection and reinfection (vs. protection) from globally important enteric infections such as cholera. He is an exceptional and dedicated humanist and physician-scientist dedicated to the health and welfare of global populations. His work advanced human health from many approaches: through the mechanistic understanding of enteric diseases, with practical and impactful clinical interventions, and by developing our next generation of scientists. 

Fredros Okumu
University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

Dr. Okumu’s contribution to the fields of global health, specifically malaria, has been tremendous and nothing short of stellar. A Kenya native, he has spent most of his research career living and working in Africa—he is a deeply passionate and fervent advocate of Africa having to lead and own public health research and operational efforts on the continent, such as for malaria prevention, control and elimination. He is also fully committed to improving the ecosystems for young researchers in Africa, and he actively seeks and engages in non-technical scientific communication. This has helped him establish effective and sustained collaborations.

His career has been devoted to reducing the burden of vector-borne diseases, specifically malaria. Whether through his academic work or work with country ministries of health, donors, non-governmental organizations, and private sector, Dr. Okumu is a true and inspirational role model for his peers and the next generation of global health and malaria leaders, researchers and practitioners. 

Clara Southmayd Ludlow Medal
Shyam Sundar
Banaras Hindu University, India

Dr. Sundar had a humble beginning to life. He was born into a lower/middle class family spent his childhood in a Muzaffarpur, Bihar State, a state with some of the highest poverty levels in India. Through hard work he obtained an M.B.B.S. and an M.D. from the Institute of Medical Sciences at BHU, and from there entered the faculty as a Lecturer in Medicine at the same institution. But Dr. Sundar did not forget his beginnings. 

He has obtained funds for clinical trials investigating treatment and diagnostic possibilities for kala azar (Visceral leishmaniasis) from agencies including Drugs for Neglected Diseases, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Commission, the World Health Organization, Gilead Sciences, and the US NIH. These funds have maintained KAMRC as a facility providing high quality medical care, which has served more than 20,000 patients. His work has helped the Indian subcontinent nearly reach elimination goals for Visceral Leishmaniasis.

His major contributions to the field of leishmaniasis, and toward the training of young scientists who will continue to make contributions, are indisputable.

Ben Kean Medal
Edward T. Ryan
Massachusetts General Hospital, United States

For several decades, Dr. Ryan has trained students, physicians, and researchers in internal medicine, infectious disease, public health, and global health topics including travel medicine, tropical infections, parasitology, vaccine sciences, and enteric infections. He is the Director of Global Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor at Harvard Medical School, where he performs clinical work, mentorship of students, residents, fellows and junior faculty. He has also served ASTMH in many roles over the years, including as a past president and a past chair of the Standards and Treatment Guidelines Committee for 8 years. 

In his research role, Dr. Ryan has formally mentored several dozens of early-career clinicians and scientists, many of whom have gone on to become international leaders in clinical tropical medicine and global health. With his many academic and scientific accolades, the common thread in his career has been his sustained commitment to mentorship and training. His clinical, research, and teaching career exemplify the clinician-educator model that Dr. Ben Kean advanced. 

Walter Reed Medal
David H. Walker
University of Texas Medical Branch, United States

Dr. Walker’s leadership and research productivity in advancing science related to tropical diseases has profoundly affected our field. As Chair of our Pathology Department and later as Director of the Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases that he also founded, he was and remains my most important faculty mentor at the University of Texas Medical Branch, as well as a mentor to nearly all of our tropical disease scientists as our programs have grown and strengthened. As is typical of the most effective mentors, he leads by example as an outstanding tropical disease researcher. Thus, Dr. Walker’s many profound impacts on tropical disease research include, in addition to the huge impacts of his own work, his mentoring of tropical disease scientists and physicians nearly worldwide. 

He is widely recognized a world-leading expert in rickettsial and related intracellular bacterial diseases, including emerging human anaplasmosis (ehrlichiosis), that he first discovered and characterized with Dr. Steve Dumler. Through his own research efforts but equally importantly through his vision, leadership, and mentoring of scientists in all career stages, he has developed one of the leading centers for infectious disease research in the world with truly global impacts. Dr. Walker has also served as a mentor and inspiration for thousands of physicians and scientists working on tropical diseases worldwide through his outstanding teaching, and for dozens of faculty. 

 
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