ASTMH mourns the loss of longtime member Nick White, a distinguished clinician and scientist who helped transform the treatment of malaria worldwide. He passed away February 1.
The following in from St. John's College, Oxford, where Prof. White was a Supernumerary Fellow and Professor of Tropical Medicine (photo courtesy of St. John's):
Prof. White specialized in tropical medicine in developing countries, and his research saved the lives of millions of people living in malaria-endemic countries in Africa and South East Asia. He played a key role in ensuring the global recommendation of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and intravenous artesunate as the most effective treatment for severe malaria. His scientific interests extended to other infectious diseases of major public health importance, including dengue, melioidosis, typhoid fever, and tetanus.
Since 1980, he was part of a scientific collaboration between the Nuffield Department of Medicine and Mahidol University in Thailand (Mahidol Oxford Research Unit (MORU)) becoming its director in 1986. Under his scientific leadership, MORU became world renowned for clinical research that combined methodological rigor with direct relevance to patient care, working in long-term partnership with local hospitals, clinicians, and researchers.
Prof. White was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006 and appointed as Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 2017.
► Read the complete obituary from St. John's here
► Click here to see an obituary from Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford
► View an obituary from the Wellcome Trust here
The following tribute was written by 2026 ASTMH President Terrie Taylor, DO.
