On the committee was Pedro Alonso, director of the Global Malaria Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO), one of the most significant  figures in this field at the international level.

Dr. Chaccour speaks in this interview about the principle results of his study and the stage of his ongoing research in the ISTUN.

- What did it mean to you to have Pedro Alonso present on your thesis committee?
I am very grateful to all the members of the committee for being there; grateful to those who came from afar for travelling, and to the local ones for giving up a holiday day.

That the director of the Global Malaria Programme of the World Health Organization accepted to be present was a great joy. I believe it is indicative of the potential importance of ivermectin in the elimination of a disease that kills a child every minute and also of the punch that the Instituto de Salud Tropical, although relatively small and new, can pull when it is not afraid to opt for innovative ideas.

- What was your PhD research about?
With the support of five institutions and dozens of people, I dedicated myself to researching the potential role played by ivermectin (an antiparasitic agent that also kills the mosquitoes that bite a person treated with the drug) in the elimination of malaria. We've also put time and effort into developing new formulations of the drug, with the same objective.

- What are the principle findings of your study?
First, we tested the concept that ivermectin kills mosquitoes by means of a randomized clinical trial in humans. Then, we sought the consensus of experts to write out a joint agenda for research. And, finally, we developed a new, long-release formulation of ivermectin, which we tested in an animal model.

- How do these advances fit in with your Malaria Mission project?
We have managed to get into the group of international of experts that advise the WHO on these matters. Now, to continue the development of our formulation, it is necessary to get funding, an arduous task for a young institution.

- What is the next step that you and your coworkers at the ISTUN are going to take in malaria research?
We have plans to start work with an animal model, in cows, in Cameroon in 2016. Also, we want to initiate a new line of experiments about the metabolism of ivermectin.

- It's said that a vaccine against malaria is getting closer and closer. When do you think that is going to become reality?
Already it is a reality. The RTS vaccine of GSK has received a favorable evaluation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the WHO. Now it is necessary to perfect the vaccine, without neglecting to invest effort in new tools. Malaria is a moving target, and so we will need all available tools, and some new ones too, to achieve the goal of reducing the morbidity and mortality rates for malaria by 90% by the year 2030.