Professor Kevin Marsh recognised for contributions to health in Africa

Professor Marsh is a principal investigator at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya, as well as senior adviser to the African Academy of Sciences. His award recognises his sustained efforts to control and eradicate malaria, which impacts the health of tens of millions of African children.

Professor Kevin Marsh

Professor Marsh said: 'I am honoured to have been awarded the Al-Sumait prize in recognition of work carried out with many colleagues in Africa and in Oxford.  The prize will be used to support the work of the African Academy of Sciences and the Africa Oxford Initiative, a new platform which brings together academics from across the University and from many African institutions to build equitable collaborations in all academic disciplines.'

The $1 million award honours individuals or institutions by recognising the studies, scientific projects, applied research and innovative initiatives that have a significant impact and lasting influence on advancing progress in economic and social development in Africa.

Professor Marsh's research on malaria spans more than three decades, from studying the immunology of malaria in the Gambia to his recent role as director of the KEMRI-Wellcome programme in Kenya from 1989 to 2014.

Al-Sumait awards are administered by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. This year's prizes will be presented during a ceremony at the Fourth Arab African Summit in Equatorial Guinea on 22 November.

Dr Adnan Shihab-Eldin, Director General of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, said: 'We are deeply humbled by the efforts demonstrated by Al-Sumait prize laureates in the pursuit of scientific discoveries to meet the challenges of disease, nutrition, food production and climate change.'