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Tilahun D. Yilma School of Veterinary Medicine Recipient 1994-1995 Dr. Yilma, professor of microbiology and immunology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, has worked tirelessly to bring the benefits of modern molecular biology to the developing nations in Africa and Asia. Born in Ethiopia, Professor Yilma has pursued a research career that has taken him back to Africa where he worked on field testing genetically engineered vaccines and rapid diagnostic kits that he developed for the devastating cattle disease rinderpest. The vaccine has been shown to be highly effective during the field trials conducted in Kenya and Ethiopia. Use of the vaccine in the eradication of rinderpest should save billions of dollars annually the livestock industry in affected regions of the world, mainly Africa and Asia. Professor Yilma has also conducted research for the National Institutes of Health aimed at developing a vaccine that will be effective against the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. Professor Yilma has established the Laboratory of Molecular Biology for Tropical Disease agents (ILMB) which has succeeded in transferring technologies in molecular biology to a number of developing nations including Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, Sudan, Brazil, Argentina, China, and India. A number of international scientists are trained at the ILMB in the development of recombinant vaccines and rapid diagnostic kits for major diseases of livestock. In November 2001, African scientists trained at the ILMB conducted a workshop in Dakar, Senegal in the use of the ELISA diagnostic kit for rinderpest for scientists from more than 30 countries in Africa. The rinderpest kit has now been adapted as the standard test for rinderpest and a similar program is being organized to transfer the technology from Africa to Asia. While maintaining a large and active research program, Professor Yilma also devotes substantial time to unpaid consultations and to providing expert testimony before international and federal hearings, meetings, and commissions. |
