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Manuel Elkin Patarroyo (born November 13, 1946) is a Colombian pathologist who developed the world's first synthetic vaccine for malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes that affects millions of people in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. The vaccine was evaluated in clinical trials carried out by the WHO in Gambia, Tanzania and Thailand, and had mixed results^[1]. Despite the relatively long trial periods and the number of studies carried out, it is still not known how the SPf66 vaccine confers immunity; it therefore remains an unlikely solution to malaria.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Notes 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Patarroyo studied medicine at the National University of Colombia, received a scholarship to Yale University, and subsequently received his PhD from Rockefeller University in New York.

He was working on improving the vaccine at the Instituto Nacional de Inmunología based in the Hospital San Juan de Dios in Bogotá, Colombia. Unfortunately, lack of government funding and mismanagement led to the bankruptcy of the Hospital San Juan de Dios and therefore to the relocation of his lab. After having worked for more than two decades at the Hospital San Juan de Dios, Dr. Patarroyo could not deter the demise of this very important Colombian teaching hospital.

Dr. Patarroyo has been criticized by the scientific community in Colombia for being the recipient of a disproportionate share of the scarce funds that the government allocates for scientific research.

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Malaria vaccine

[edit] External links

• Emerging Rules for Subunit-Based, Multiantigenic, Multistage Chemically Synthesized Vaccines, abstract of article in Accounts of Chemical Research, from the American Chemical Society.
• Toward A New Generation Of Vaccines For Malaria And Other Diseases in 'Science Daily'.
• Race for Malaria Money
• Scientists Herald Malaria Breakthrough
• Heroes: Manuel Patarroyo
• Guardian Unlimited: Scientist whose dream of beating disease came true

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