Julie Makani

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Julie Makani
Royal Society Pfizer Award, 2011
Scientific career
FieldsMedical research
InstitutionsMuhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
External videos
video icon "By the time I started working two of my cousins had already died from sickle cell anemia", Royal Society Pfizer Award 2011

Julie Makani (born 1970) is a

Royal Society Pfizer Award for her work with sickle cell disease.[2]

Education

After attending St Constantine's Primary school in Arusha, Tanzania,

sickle cell disease (SCD).[5]

Biomedical research

In 2004, she received a Wellcome Trust training fellowship and established the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) programme at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), with prospective surveillance of over 2,000 SCD patients.[6] In sickle cell disease, red blood cells are abnormally shaped, causing problems with the flow of blood through the body and the resulting transport of oxygen throughout the body. A genetic disorder, the disease causes reoccurring episodes of pain and severe organ damage which can result in death.[7] An estimated eight to eleven thousand children per year are born with sickle-cell disease in Tanzania.[8] The focus of Makani's initial work at Muhimbili was to examine factors such as malaria, bacterial infections and stroke, which are considered to significantly contribute to illness and death when interventions are available.[9]

In collaboration with colleagues, she has developed a biomedical research and healthcare programme which is one of the largest SCD cohorts from one centre in the world.

haemoglobin in influencing disease burden in SCD.[10]

Makani is working with colleagues to establish networks at a national level in the regional Sickle Cell Disease Research Network of East and Central Africa (REDAC) and Africa (Sickle CHARTA – Consortium for Health, Advocacy, Research and Training in Africa).[7] Makani is co-founder of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Tanzania.[11] On a global level she is on the technical advisory group of Global SCD Research Network, co-chairing the working group responsible for hydroxyurea therapy in Africa.[7]

Her aim is to use sickle cell disease as a model to establish scientific and healthcare solutions in Africa that are locally relevant as well as having global significance. Achieving success in sickle cell disease will illustrate that with effective global partnerships, inequities in biomedical science and health can be addressed.[12]

Fellowships and other awards

Makani received a training (2003) and intermediate fellowship (2011) from the Wellcome Trust for the sickle cell disease programme.

TEDGlobal meeting in Arusha, Tanzania. In 2009, she received an Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship from the African Leadership Institute.[13]

In 2011, she was awarded The

Royal Society Pfizer Award. The award grant will be used for research to provide a better understanding of the molecular, genetic and environmental mechanisms of sickle cell disease. In granting the award, Professor Lorna Casselton of the Royal Society, said: "We are extremely pleased to recognise such an impressive individual with the Royal Society Pfizer Award this year... We hope that Dr Makani stands as role-model for other young Africans scientists wishing to make a difference on their continent and worldwide."[2]

In 2019, she was included in the list of BBC 100 Women.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Dr Julie Makani". Nuffield Department of Medicine. Archived from the original on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Tanzanian scientist wins Royal Society Pfizer Award for Sickle Cell Disease research". The Royal Society. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  3. ^ a b Mwangi, Tabitha (6 November 2011). "Painful crisis: Dr Julie Makani's fight against sickle cell disease". The East African Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  4. ^ "DR JULIE MAKANI: Feeling the pain of sickle cell anaemia". Africa Review. 2 April 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Dr Julie Makani - Principal Investigator (Haematology)". Muhimbili Wellcome Programme. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  6. ^ a b c "Muhimbili Wellcome Programme". Muhimbili Wellcome Programme. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  7. ^ a b c Sangare, Nene. "FABA (For Africa By Africans): Sickle Cell Disease Research". Africa Strictly Business. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  8. ^ Gribbin, Alice. "The NS Interview: Julie Makani, tropical medicine researcher". New Statesman. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  9. PMID 19344425
    .
  10. PMID 21068433
    . Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Sickle Cell Foundation of Tanzania". Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  12. ^ "Julie Makani biography". Global Sickle Cell Disease Network. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  13. ^ "The Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellowship Program". The Personal Blog of Lanre Dahunsi. 26 October 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  14. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2019: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 16 October 2019.

External links

Scholia has an author profile for Julie Makani.

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