Vaccinologists Keith Klugman and Shabir Madhi Awarded Sabin’s
Prestigious Gold Medal; Infectious Diseases Epidemiologist Nicole
Basta Receives Rising Star Award
The Sabin Vaccine Institute yesterday presented the Albert B. Sabin
Gold Medal to physician-researchers Keith Paul Klugman and Shabir
Ahmed Madhi, and its Rising Star award to infectious diseases
epidemiologist Nicole Elaine Basta at a ceremony in the National
Academy of Sciences building in Washington D.C.
Klugman and Madhi received the Sabin Gold Medal, one of the
highest recognitions for vaccinologists globally, for their seminal
combined contributions to the development of vaccines against
pneumonia and diarrheal disease – major causes of death in children
in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Klugman first met his
then-graduate student Madhi at South Africa’s University of the
Witwatersrand (also known as Wits University), where Klugman
established, and Madhi expanded, a now globally renowned infectious
diseases research institute. Apart from pneumonia, their work
focused on maternal and children’s vaccines including influenza,
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), typhoid, and Group B
streptococcus (GBS).
The evidence produced by these two awardees has and continues to
inform the World Health Organization’s recommendations for
vaccines. Klugman and Madhi’s research has helped pave the way for
the introduction of lifesaving vaccines in public immunization
programs – including the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine where their
findings were pivotal in influencing vaccination policy in many
LMICs.
“I am honored to award the Sabin Gold Medal to Dr. Klugman and
Dr. Madhi for their extraordinary work on vaccines that have saved
lives in communities most in need of these interventions,” says Amy
Finan, Sabin’s chief executive officer. “Their pneumonia research
has been particularly transformative in shaping our understanding
of the disease and strengthening global health strategies to
protect children from this vaccine-preventable disease.”
Fueled by an early interest in science as a child in South
Africa -- in part due to a physician father – Klugman holds both a
medical as well as a science doctorate degree from Wits University
and was the first student in the school’s history to obtain them
simultaneously. He began his research career nearly five decades
ago investigating the typhoid vaccine and has since distinguished
himself as a formidable infectious diseases’ scientist. Klugman is
widely known for his work on pneumonia, which still kills a child
under five every 43 seconds, many in the world’s poorest countries.
As the director of the pneumonia program at the Seattle-based Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation, Klugman orchestrates strategic
initiatives aimed at reducing deaths from pneumonia, RSV, neonatal
sepsis, and meningitis. He has authored hundreds of publications
that have been cited over 50,000 times to date and has been elected
to the National Academy of Medicine in the United States. Klugman
is also a professor emeritus of global health at Atlanta’s Emory
University.
His scientific achievements aside, Klugman has long championed
the need for the world’s poorest children to have equitable access
to vaccines. While in South Africa he joined in Wits University’s
struggle to allow access to the institution for all students.
“It is absolutely wonderful to be receiving this award,
especially together with Shabir,” he says. “When I look down the
list of previous awardees, I recognize the great majority of them,
and it is extraordinary to now be numbered among them.”
With a career spanning more than 25 years, Madhi, also from
South Africa, is a trained pediatrician whose research continues to
be instrumental in prioritizing the rollout of vital vaccines and
guiding global public health policies. At Wits University, he led
clinical trials focused on respiratory and meningeal pathogens,
including vaccines targeted at pregnant women and their unborn
babies. Madhi led the first study showing that a rotavirus vaccine
could significantly prevent severe diarrhea during the first year
of life in African infants. That research served as a key piece of
evidence for the WHO’s recommendation of universal rotavirus
vaccination. In addition, he also led the first two COVID-19
vaccine trials in Africa, and a number of COVID-19 epidemiology
studies which led to the first evidence suggesting that
infection-induced immunity and vaccinations played a role in
reducing severity of disease.
Madhi heads South Africa’s widely respected South African
Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Vaccines and Infectious Diseases
Analytics Research Unit (Wits VIDA) and is a professor of
vaccinology at Wits. He too has co-authored hundreds of
publications which have been cited over 59,000 times. Madhi is a
recipient of numerous lifetime achievement awards in South Africa,
as well being bestowed an Honorary Commander of the Order of the
British Empire (CBE) from the British Government for his services
to science and public health in a global pandemic.
“It is really humbling for me to be acknowledged for my
contributions in the field of vaccinology along with those who have
received the Gold Medal award,” says Madhi. “It makes me realize
that the work my team and I have done is acknowledged by my peers
as being of substance. Most significantly, we contributed to
protecting lives in those settings where a majority of death and
suffering occurs, and that is in LMICs.”
Sabin’s 2024 Rising Star Nicole Basta, an associate professor at
Canada’s McGill University and Canada Research Chair in Infectious
Disease Prevention, has led numerous studies to evaluate the impact
of vaccines and vaccination programs for a number of globally
challenging viral and bacterial diseases, including COVID-19,
meningococcal disease, influenza, and HPV.
Inspired by her parents’ emphasis on the importance of
education, Basta is a first-generation college graduate who earned
an undergraduate degree at Princeton University and graduate
degrees at the University of Cambridge and the University of
Washington. She has distinguished herself as a prolific researcher
with a focus on assessing the impact of vaccination programs and
increasing vaccine awareness, acceptance, and uptake. She designed
and led studies to evaluate the impact of the meningococcal A
vaccine MenAfriVac in Mali and the meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero
in the US, both of which contributed to better understanding about
how to best implement vaccination programs. In 2020, she and a
colleague developed an interactive online COVID-19 vaccine tracker,
providing real-time updates to millions of users around the world
on the pandemic vaccine development progress.
“Prof. Basta’s impactful and policy-shaping epidemiological
research benefits from her ability to make it accessible and useful
to the global health community. The COVID-19 vaccine tool is one
such instance,” says Finan. “Those achievements alone would make
her deserving of the Rising Star but there’s more: she also
demonstrates a deep commitment to mentoring the next generation of
public health researchers through her research group which is
exactly the kind of emerging leader we need.”
Once an infectious diseases outbreak investigator with the
Florida Department of Health, Basta has first-hand knowledge that
scientific research needs to be understood and adopted beyond the
confines of academia. She works with policy makers and public
health agencies and organizations to translate research findings
into actionable strategies for disease prevention and control.
“It’s truly an honor to receive the 2024 Rising Star Award from
the Sabin Vaccine Institute, especially since I am deeply committed
to ensuring that we have the evidence we need to demonstrate the
importance of vaccination and increase access and uptake,” says
Basta. “This recognition is also a testament to the outstanding
collaborators and trainees I have had the privilege to work with
and it motivates us to continue to make a difference in the years
ahead.”
The Gold Medal is Sabin’s highest scientific honor. It has been
given annually for more than three decades to a distinguished
member of the global health community who has made exceptional
contributions to vaccinology or a complementary field. Past award
recipients include leaders of vaccinology and vaccine advocacy such
as Drs. Barney Graham, Carol Baker, Bill Foege, Anne Gershon,
Stanley Plotkin, and Kathrin Jansen.
Sabin’s Rising Star award was created in 2020 to encourage and
recognize the next generation of vaccine and immunization
leaders.
About the Sabin Vaccine Institute
The Sabin Vaccine Institute is a leading advocate for expanding
vaccine access and uptake globally, advancing vaccine research and
development, and amplifying vaccine knowledge and innovation.
Unlocking the potential of vaccines through partnership, Sabin has
built a robust ecosystem of funders, innovators, implementers,
practitioners, policy makers and public stakeholders to advance its
vision of a future free from preventable diseases. As a non-profit
with three decades of experience, Sabin is committed to finding
solutions that last and extending the full benefits of vaccines to
all people, regardless of who they are or where they live. At
Sabin, we believe in the power of vaccines to change the world. For
more information, visit www.sabin.org and follow us on
Twitter, @SabinVaccine.
Media Contact: Monika Guttman Senior Media
Relations SpecialistSabin Vaccine Institute +1 (202) 662-1841
press@sabin.org
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/44d4ebd3-50bb-4e77-846d-0bad4accb05b