Alimuddin Zumla

Alimuddin Zumla is a Zambian professor of infectious diseases and international health at University College London Medical School. He specialises in infectious and tropical diseases, clinical immunology, and internal medicine, with a special interest in HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, and diseases of poverty. He is the first doctor from his country to be shortlisted as one of ten candidates for the BMJ Group's (formerly British Medical Journal's) lifetime achievement prize in 2010.^[1]

Early life

Zumla was born in Fort Jameson, Northern Rhodesia (now Chipata, Eastern Province, Zambia).^[2] He is of South Asian (Indian/Gujarati) descent.^[3] He did his early education at the Lotus Primary School and Prince Philip Secondary School (now Kamwala Secondary School) in Lusaka, and his medical training at the University of Zambia's School of Medicine.^[3][4] He turned down a Rhodes Scholarship to remain in Zambia for his first degree.^[3] In 1980, he moved to London to pursue an M.Sc. in tropical medicine at the University of London.^[2] In 1982, he contracted life-threatening tuberculous meningitis, and was told that he would never walk again, but went on to make a remarkable recovery and return to work a year-and-a-half later.^[3] He went on to pursue doctoral studies on leprosy human monoclonal antibodies at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where his 1987 dissertation (advised by Keith McAdam) merited him the Alan Woodruff Medal.^[2][5][6]

Career

Following his graduation, Zumla spent four years in a post-doctoral position at the Hammersmith Hospital, Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London under Robert Lechler, and then two years at the University of Texas Center for Infectious Diseases working with Herbert DuPont.^[2][5][7] He then returned to his native Zambia for several years to work on AIDS-related opportunistic infections at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka before moving to University College London in 1995.^[3][5]

In 2003, there were numerous media reports about a paper of Zumla's in The Lancet discussing a test developed by a team he led for monitoring CD4 immune cell counts based on dried blood samples.^[8] Such counts are used in monitoring AIDS patients taking antiretroviral drug treatments; Zumla's method was expected to significantly reduce the cost of such monitoring by eliminating the need for refrigeration of fresh blood samples from patients, thus making it more accessible to patients in developing countries.^[9][10] Professor Alimuddin Zumla is the lead guru of the Lancet TB Series linked to the Lancet TB Observatory, a new global initiative to address key issues around TB treatment and diagnosis.The launch was held at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva on 18 May 2010. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1005/10051901 As of 2011^[update], Zumla is the director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases and International Health at University College London Medical School, as well as a consultant in infectious diseases at University College Hospital. His current research interests include tuberculosis (particularly drug clinical trials and prevalence in London), HIV/AIDS, tropical diseases, respiratory infections (and rapid diagnostics thereof), endocarditis, biomarkers, and transrenal DNA.^[11]

Awards

Zumla received the Weber Parkes Trust Medal and Prize in 1999.^[5] He was further awarded the Albert Chalmers Medal by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Windrush Award for Academic Achievement in 2003, and was also shortlisted for The Muslim News' 2005 Awards for Excellence.^[12] Professor Alimuddin Zumla (UCL Infection & Immunity) has recently (November 2011) received three international prizes for his work combating tuberculosis (TB), a disease that still causes three deaths every minute

The recent spate of awards includes the India International Foundation Science Award, the University of Amsterdam Spinoza Leerstoel award, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) STOP TB Kochon Prize. They recognise Professor Zumla’s outstanding achievements in tuberculosis research, significant contribution to combating TB and excellence in infectious diseases research.http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1111/11110102-zumla-TB-prizes

Quotes

• "In a world where the western countries have dominated all fields of science for the past century, this now proves that everyone from the developing world are capable of achieving the best in the world without having education at private schools and at elitist universities in the UK or USA"^[3]

Selected works

Professor Zumla has authored 368 publications and edited 18 medical textbooks, two of which are globally acknowledged classics: Manson’s Tropical Diseases 21st and 22nd editions, and Tuberculosis: A Comprehensive Clinical Reference which involves 156 global TB experts writing 104 chapters on all aspects of paediatric and adult TB. (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infection-immunity/research/res_ccm/ccm_zum-auto)

Books

• Zumla, Alimuddin; Johnson, Margaret A.; Miller, Robert (1997), AIDS and respiratory medicine, Chapman & Hall Medical, ISBN 978-0-412-60140-8 
• Zumla, Alimuddin; Schaaf, H. Simon (2009), Tuberculosis: An Issue of Clinics in Chest Medicine, Elsevier - Health Sciences Division, ISBN 978-1-4377-1804-1 

Edited works

• Cook, Gordon C; Zumla, Alimuddin, eds. (2008), Manson's Tropical Diseases (22nd ed.), London: Elsevier Harcourt Brace Publishing Group, ISBN 978-1-4160-4470-3 
• Schaaf, H. Simon; Zumla, Alimuddin, eds. (2009), Tuberculosis: a comprehensive clinical reference, Saunders/Elsevier, ISBN 978-1-4160-3988-4 

Journal papers

• Mwinga, A.; Nunn, A.; Ngwira, B.; Chintu, C.; Warndorff, D.; Fine, P.; Darbyshire, J.; Zumla, A. (2002), "Mycobacterium vaccae (SRL172) immunotherapy as an adjunct to standard antituberculosis treatment in HIV-infected adults with pulmonary tuberculosis: a randomised placebo-controlled trial", The Lancet 360 (9339): 1050–5, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11141-X, PMID 12383985 
• Chintu, C.; Mudenda, V.; Lucas, S.; Nunn, A.; Lishimpi, K.; Maswahu, D.; Kasolo, F.; Mwaba, P. et al. (2002), "Lung diseases at necropsy in African children dying from respiratory illnesses: a descriptive necropsy study", The Lancet 360 (9338): 985–90, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11082-8, PMID 12383668 
• Mwaba, P.; Cassol, S.; Nunn, A.; Pilon, R.; Chintu, C.; Janes, M.; Zumla, A. (2003), "Whole blood versus plasma spots for measurement of HIV-1 viral load in HIV-infected African patients", The Lancet 362 (9401): 2067–8, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)15103-3, PMID 14697808 
• Mwaba, P.; Cassol, S.; Pilon, R.; Chintu, C.; Janes, M.; Nunn, A.; Zumla, A. (2003), "Use of dried whole blood spots to measure CD4+ lymphocyte counts in HIV-1-infected patients", The Lancet 362 (9394): 1459–60, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14693-4, PMID 14602443 
• Chintu, C.; Bhat, GJ.; Walker, AS.; Mulenga, V.; Sinyinza, F.; Lishimpi, K.; Farrelly, L.; Kaganson, N. et al. (2004), "Co-trimoxazole as prophylaxis against opportunistic infections in HIV-infected Zambian children (CHAP): a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial", The Lancet 364 (9448): 1865–71, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17442-4, PMID 15555666 
• Zumla, A; Mullan, Z (2006), "Turning the tide against tuberculosis", The Lancet 367 (9514): 877–8, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68355-4, PMID 16546520 
• Perkins, M. D.; Roscigno, G.; Zumla, A. (2006), "Progress towards improved tuberculosis diagnostics for developing countries", The Lancet 367 (9514): 942–3, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68386-4, PMID 16546544 
• Griffiths, C.; Sturdy, P.; Brewin, P.; Bothamley, G.; Eldridge, S.; Martineau, A.; MacDonald, M.; Ramsay, J. et al. (2007), "Educational outreach to promote screening for tuberculosis in primary care: a cluster randomised controlled trial", The Lancet 369 (9572): 1528–34, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60707-7, PMID 17482983 
• Nunn, Andrew J.; Mwaba, Peter B.; Chintu, Chifumbe; Crook, Angela M.; Darbyshire, Janet H.; Ahmed, Yusuf; Zumla, Alimuddin I. (April 2011), "Randomised, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate co-trimoxazole to reduce mortality and morbidity in HIV-infected post-natal women in Zambia (TOPAZ)", Tropical Medicine & International Health 16 (4): 518–526, doi:10.1111/j.1365-3156.2011.02731.x 

References