On Thursday, February 03, 2022, the Fondation Christophe et Rodolphe Mérieux announced the winner of the 2022 Christophe Mérieux Prize. This prize went to Professor Joseph KAMGNO to reward his exceptional career and research on neglected tropical diseases, especially filariasis, in Central Africa. The official award ceremony will take place on June 1, 2022 under the Dome of the Palace of the Institut de France in Paris.

Professor Joseph KAMGNO is an Epidemiologist and Public Health Specialist. He received his medical degree in 1994 at the Centre Universitaire des Sciences de la Santé (currently known as the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) of the University of Yaoundé. In 1999, he received a scholarship from the French cooperation for training in the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and at the Veterinary School of Alfort. At the same time, he received the Inter-University Diploma in quantitative epidemiology of the Centre d'Enseignement de la Statistique Appliquée à la Médecine et à la Biologie Médicale (CESAM) of the University of Paris 6. In 2005, he received his PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Parsis 6.

In 2005 when Professor KAMGNO returned to Cameroon, his home country, he founded the Centre for Research on Filariasis and other Tropical Diseases (CRFilMT), a research centre which he erected as a reference for neglected tropical diseases worldwide. He was recruited in 2009 at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaoundé I, and in 2014 he successfully received the CAMES aggregation contest. In 2017, Professor KAMGNO was appointed Vice Dean in charge of Research and Cooperation at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaoundé I, and since 2020 he is the Head of the Department of Public Health in the same institution.

Professor KAMGNO is a consultant and member of several committees at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Vice-President of the Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Committee of Cameroon, and Member of several Scientific Societies, including the Cameroon Academy of Science (CAS), African Academy of Science (AAS) and American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). He is the author and co-author of more than 150 scientific publications and books in the most renowned journals of the world. In 2015 he received the Islamic Development Bank Prize for his contribution to the economic and social development of Cameroon.

Read more about Christophe Mérieux Prize at https://www.fondation-merieux.org/ce-que-nous-faisons/renforcer-capacites-recherche/renforcer-competences-scientifiques/prix-christophe-merieux-institut-de-france/