Three doctors win the prize for discoveries in malaria and roundworm treatments.
Malaria and roundworm parasites cause suffering to millions of people worldwide, but now thw Nobel Prize committee has recognized three doctors for discoveries aimed at treating the debilitating conditions.
The team of doctors William Campbell and Satoshi Omura, and doctor Tu Youyou became the first Nobel Prize winners of 2015 with the announcement Monday by the Stockholm based group. The team and Dr. Youyou will split the $960,000 prize money, according to Time magazine.
Campbell is an emeritus fellow at Drew University in New Jersey and Omura is a professor emeritus at Kitasato University in Japan. Together they discovered a drug to combat the roundworm parasite responsible for river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, diseases that affect an estimated 18 million people primarily in Africa and Central and South America.
Dr. Tu’s discovery has improved treatment of malaria patients, significantly reducing mortality rates from the disease. The World Health Organization says malaria rates have declined by 47 percent since 2000.
The Nobel Prize committee is expected to announce more prizes, including the physics, chemistry and peace prizes, later this week. All of the 2015 Nobel Laureates will be feted at the annual Nobel Prize award ceremony on the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the prize.
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