Tropical Medicine 100 years on from Sir Patrick Manson by Professor Alan Fenwick OBE
We were delighted that Professor Alan Fenwick OBE delivered the Christmas Manson lecture at our Research in Progress meeting on the 14th December last year. The topic of his lecture was ‘Tropical Medicine 100 years on from Sir Patrick Manson’ and he led us through a wonderful account of the achievements and success of the last 100 years, with some food for thought about the remaining challenges.
Watch the talk below.
Professor Fenwick, who announced his retirement from the 1st January 2017, has had an incredible career and received much success and many honours, as detailed below. He has been a member of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene since 1969 and was Vice-President from 2009 to 2011. He was awarded the Donald MacKay Medal in 2004.
A specialist in the research and control of Schistosomiasis, Professor Fenwick has been recognised for his achievements not only with an OBE, but also in other countries notably Niger and Burkina Faso. For decades he lived and worked in Tanzania, Sudan and Egypt, before returning to the UK.
Prior to retirement Professor Fenwick has been at Imperial College since June 2002 teaching Tropical Parasitology to medical students, on Bio Medical Science courses, Masters courses, and to Intercollated B.Sc. courses both at Imperial and in other UK Universities.
He also established the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology. SCI is a collaborative project to assist countries in sub-Saharan Africa control Schistosomiasis, intestinal helminths and other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). It was awarded a prestigious Queens Anniversary Prize in 2008, and in 2013 it reached the milestone of having assisted in the delivery of 100 million treatments against Schistosomiasis in 16 countries within Africa and the Middle East
A list of the awards and positions held by Professor Fenwick:
- Mike Fisher Memorial Award for contribution to Global Health, Windref Foundation, 2014
- Queens Anniversary Award for Research Excellence to SCI, Imperial College, The Queen, 2008
- Chevalier Order National, Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso, 2007
- Gold Medal of Honour, Niger, Ministry of Health Niger, 2006
- Donald MacKay Medal, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2004
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), The Queen, 1988
- Member, Scientific Technical Advisory Group (STAG), Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organisation, 2009 - 2011
- Member, WHO Expert Panel on schistosomiasis, 1995
- Honorary Fellow of the American Society Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Society Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2012
- RSTMH Fellow from 1969, and Vice President (2009-2011)
