In Society
Mamy Ingabire: Transforming Vector Control in Africa
Mamy Ingabire is an entrepreneur dedicated to using cutting-edge technology to address critical challenges across various industries.
As the Managing Director of Charis UAS, Rwanda’s first licensed drone company, she has played a fundamental role in advancing the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to improve efficiency in vector control, agriculture, construction, mapping, healthcare, and more. Under her leadership, Charis UAS has leveraged drone technology to revolutionize data collection and digital solutions.
Drones vs. Mosquitoes: Fighting malaria in Malawi
In the middle of a muddy field next to a reservoir in north-western Malawi, a team of scientists are hard at work. Boxes of equipment lie scattered around a patch of dry ground, where a scientist programmes an automated drone flight into a laptop perched on a metal box. The craggy peak of Linga Mountain (‘watch from afar’ in the local language) looms over the lake, casting its reflection in the water.
With a high-pitched whirr of rotor blades, the drone takes off and starts following the shoreline, taking photos as it goes. Once the drone is airborne, the team switch from high-tech to low-tech mode. They collect ladles, rulers and plastic containers and squelch through mud until they reach the water’s edge.
The Drone Edge in Vector Control
Achieving global vector control’s potential requires “realigning programs to optimize the delivery of interventions that are tailored to the local context [and]…strengthened monitoring systems and novel interventions with proven effectiveness.” This includes “integration of non-chemical and chemical vector control methods [and] evidence-based decision making guided by operational research and entomological and epidemiological surveillance and evaluation.”
Drones or “unmanned aerial vehicles” (UAVs) can save time and money compared to conventional ground-based surveys. Sophisticated models and monitoring equipment can be purchased for a few thousand dollars. They don’t require a pilot’s license, they are becoming easier to fly, and their paths can be fully automated through AI, machine learning, global positioning systems, and computer vision.
Mosquito Control Drone Application
Check out this video from Calcasieu Parish Mosquito and Rodent Control on how they are using drone technology to spray in hard to reach areas and increase the efficiency of eliminating disease-carrying populations of mosquitos.
Dame Sarah Gilbert: The Scientist Who Helped Save Millions of Lives
Dame Sarah Gilbert, Born in April 1962, is a vaccinologist whose groundbreaking work on the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has saved millions of lives worldwide.
In 1983, Gilbert graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of East Anglia. She then pursued a PhD at the University of Hull, focusing her studies on the genetics and biochemistry of the yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides, and earned her doctorate in 1986.
Supercomputer Using AI to Develop Vaccines
A £225m supercomputer is using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop new drugs and vaccines.
When it is fully operational this summer, the Isambard-AI computer in Bristol will be the most powerful supercomputer in the UK.
Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled plans to “unleash AI” across the UK in an effort to boost growth.
Simon McIntosh-Smith, a professor in high-performance computing at Bristol University, said the Isambard-AI meant the UK “genuinely can be competitive with the world”.
A Shining New Age of Vaccines
With vaccines, history repeats itself like music stuck in a loop. On the one hand, advancing technologies create vaccines against a growing list of lethal diseases and conditions. On the other hand, outrageous myths and conspiracy theories compete against science. Familiar and strong emotions run the gamut, from relief when deadly diseases like smallpox are eradicated to anger about perceived dangers to health, governmental overreach and threats to freedom of choice. While religious, commercial, pseudo-scientific and political interests cash in on the confusion, context and meaning are sometimes lost or forgotten. Telling facts apart from misinformation becomes difficult.
Understanding how vaccines are evolving can help better understand both why they are one of medical science’s supreme triumphs and also why the anti-vaccine movement continues to grow and influence so many.
Types of Vaccinations
This infographic from Boston University provides a side-by-side comparison of different types of vaccinations, showcasing their similarities and differences in how they trigger and support the body’s immune response.
Dr. Nora Volkow: The Brain Behind Modern Addiction Research
Dr. Nora Volkow, a distinguished neuroscientist, is an important contributor in the fields of addiction science and mental health research.
Born in Mexico City in 1956, Dr. Volkow demonstrated academic prowess from the start, attending the National University of Mexico’s Medical School, where she was awarded the prestigious Robins Award for being the best medical student of her generation. She attending New York University to further her expertise in psychiatry, earning a Laughlin Fellowship for being one of the ten most outstanding psychiatric residents in the United States.
More Teens than Ever are Overdosing
For years, students in middle and high schools across the country were urged to “just say no” to drugs and alcohol. But it’s no secret that the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, which was typically delivered by police officers who urged total abstinence, didn’t work.
A meta-analysis found the program largely ineffective and one study even showed that kids who completed D.A.R.E. were more likely than their peers to take drugs (Ennett, S. T., et al., American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 84, No. 9, 1994; Rosenbaum, D. P., & Hanson, G. S., Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 35, No. 4, 1998).
“We know that the ‘Just Say No’ campaign doesn’t work. It’s based in pure risks, and that doesn’t resonate with teens,” said developmental psychologist Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD, a professor of pediatrics and founder and executive director of several substance use prevention and intervention curriculums at Stanford University. “There are real and perceived benefits to using drugs, as well as risks, such as coping with stress or liking the ‘high.’ If we only talk about the negatives, we lose our credibility.”