Dr. Monique Wasunna, a pioneering African medical researcher, has transformed neglected disease treatment through DNDi, championing locally-led research while fighting against colonial-era medical research legacies.
In a powerful keynote address at the 2024 American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting, Dr. Monique Wasunna highlighted the transformation of African medical research from colonial exploitation to locally-led innovation.
As Africa Ambassador for the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Wasunna has dedicated her career to fighting diseases that affect the world’s most vulnerable populations. Her commitment was forged early in her career when a young patient with visceral leishmaniasis died in her arms. “This disease that has taken my friend, I will do anything in my power to help other patients. I will be their advocate,” she told Global Health NOW.
A distinguished physician and tropical medicine specialist, Wasunna has held several leadership positions, including Chief Research Officer at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Her contributions to neglected disease research earned her France’s National Order of Merit, Kenya’s Distinguished NTD Researcher Award, and recognition as a Mycetoma Ambassador. As founding chair of the Leishmaniasis East Africa Platform, she advanced clinical research and capacity building across the region. Her work with DNDi since 2003 has focused on developing treatments through R&D collaborations and advancing universal health coverage.
Through her work with DNDi, Wasunna has helped develop new treatments for neglected tropical diseases, including breakthrough therapies for sleeping sickness that replaced dangerous arsenic-based drugs. She emphasized that success in medical research requires addressing fundamental infrastructure challenges in remote areas, from poor roads to inadequate medical facilities.
Wasunna criticized the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as “another form of imperialism,” but remained optimistic about Africa’s scientific future. She pointed to significant progress in African research institutions since the 1970s and emphasized the importance of supporting young African scientists.
The scientist highlighted three successful DNDi partnerships that developed treatments for visceral leishmaniasis, falciparum malaria, and sleeping sickness as examples of what can be achieved through equitable collaboration. These successes, she argued, demonstrated how decolonizing science can lead to better health outcomes for all.
Read about Dr. Wasunna’s keynote speech at the 2024 ASTMH annual meeting, by Matthew Davis: Monique Wasunna Calls for ‘Decolonizing Science to Benefit Us All’
Read more about Dr. Wasunna in an article by Dayna Kerecman Myers, Managing Editor of Global Health NOW, from November 25, 2024: Neglected Diseases Are Fierce, But So Is Monique Wasunna
Listen to Dr. Wasunna talk about her work in this video from DNDi:
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