Rose Gana Fomban Leke is a

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian malariologist and

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

and

Parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

at the

University of Yaounde I A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. She was awarded the L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science in 2024.

Early life and education

When Leke was growing up she suffered from malaria multiple times, it was a normal part of life. She was first interested in medicine due to treatment she received for

lung abscess Lung abscess is a type of liquefactive necrosis of the lung tissue and formation of cavities (more than 2 cm) containing necrotic debris or fluid caused by microbial infection. This pus-filled cavity is often caused by aspiration, which m ...

in Limbe when she was six years old. Her mother never went to school, however her father was a school teacher, and both encouraged her to pursue educational opportunities. She went to

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, US. Originally a college exclusively for women, it is now coeducational. It is the oldest Catholic college in Indiana ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, US in 1966 for her undergraduate studies, and then

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

for her master's degree in the lab of David Silverman. Leke pursued her PhD, titled ''Murine plasmodia: chronic, virulent and self-limiting infections'', at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

, Canada in 1975.

Research

Professor Leke's research has focussed on

pregnancy-associated malaria Pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) or placental malaria is a presentation of malaria in pregnancy which is life-threatening to both pregnant women and unborn fetuses. * PAM occurs when a pregnant woman contracts malaria, generally as a result of ''P ...

, in which even women who have developed immunity to the severest forms of malaria can be stricken by a life-threatening form of the disease, with implications on the health of the baby. She established a long-time collaboration with Diana Taylor at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

to investigate this condition. Together they published a study in 2018 that indicated that increased numbers of parasites during pregnancy-associated malaria actually conferred better protection in the baby to future malaria infections, and suggested that a less-severe pregnancy-associated infection may predispose the child towards greater incidence of disease.

Awards and recognition

* Leke has been a senior member of many organisations in the fields of immunology and malaria. * She received the UNESCO-L’Oréal Award for Women in Science in 2024. * Leke established the Cameroon Coalition Against Malaria. * She served as president of the Federation of African Immunological Societies from 1997 to 2001, and as a council member of the

International Union of Immunological Societies The International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS), a member of the International Council for Science, is an organization which serves as an umbrella organization for many national and regionally grouped immunological societies. The organ ...

from 1998 to 2004. * In 2002, a presidential decree appointed Leke as the chair of the Board of Directors of Cameroon's National Medical Research Institute. * She was awarded the 2011 Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award for Women by the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

. * Leke retired from senior university positions in 2013, having been head of the Department of Medicine and Director of the Biotechnology Centre at the

University of Yaoundé I A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. * She was invited to deliver the 2014 Aggrey‐Fraser‐Guggisberg Memorial Lecture at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) degree by the same institution. * In 2015, Leke was elected an honorary international fellow of the

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) is an Arlington, Virginia-based non-profit organization of scientists, clinicians, students and program professionals whose longstanding mission is to promote global health through the ...

. She also founded the Higher Institute for Growth in Health Research for Women Consortium, aimed at mentoring women scientists in Cameroon. * In 2018, Leke was honored as a Heroine of Health by Women in Global Health and

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

Healthcare during the

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 World Health Organization#Membership, member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of h ...

in Geneva. * In 2019, she was ceremonially named Queen Mother of the Cameroon Medical Community by the Cameroon Medical Council. * Leke is a member of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

Malaria Policy Advisory Committee The Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG) – previously known as Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) was established in 2011 to provide independent advice to World Health Organization on all policy areas relating to malaria Malaria is ...

and the

International Health Regulations The International Health Regulations (IHR), first adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969 and last revised in 2005, are legally binding rules that only apply to the WHO that is an instrument that aims for international collaboration "to prev ...

Emergency Committee on

Polio Eradication Polio eradication, the goal of permanent global cessation of circulation of the poliovirus and hence elimination of the poliomyelitis (polio) it causes, is the aim of a multinational public health effort begun in 1988, led by the World Healt ...

. * In 2023, she received the Virchow Prize, honoring her pioneering infectious disease research towards a malaria-free world and her dedication to advancing gender equality. The prize is endowed with 500,000 euros and was established by the non-profit Virchow Foundation. * Her contributions to science were acknowledged in the book ''Towards Women Participation in Scientific Research in Africa''.http://www.austrc.org/docs/womenSTI/Women%20in%20Science.pdf

Personal life

Leke has many grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leke, Rose Living people Cameroonian scientists Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences World Health Organization officials University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Université de Montréal alumni Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College alumni Malariologists Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates