Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum
Jean-Jacques Muyembe | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum |
| Alma mater | Lovanium University Université Catholique de Louvain (PhD) |
| Known for | Ebola discovery, prevention & treatment |
| Awards | Nature's 10 (2019) Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize (2019) Royal Society Africa Prize (2015) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Democratic Republic of the Congo National Institute for Biomedical Research |
| Thesis | Mode d'action des inducteurs d'interferon non-viraux dans une infection virale de la souris (1973) |
Jean-Jacques Muyembe is a Congolese microbiologist. He is the general director of Institut National pour la Recherche Biomedicale of DR Congo. He was part of team at the Yambuku Catholic Mission Hospital that investigated the first Ebola outbreak, and was part of the effort that discovered Ebola as a new disease, although his exact role is still subject to controversy. In 2016, he led the research that designed, along with other researchers at the INRB and the National Institute of Health Vaccine Research Center in the US, one of the most promising treatment for Ebola, mAb114. The treatment was successfully tested during recent outbreaks in the DRC, on the express decision of the then DRC Minister of Health, Dr Oly Ilunga, despite advice against this from the World Health Organization.