From Ebola vaccine #2 to a five-star record, via Bellagio — the week from my desk
Nov 1 · 3 min read
These pieces landed in the inbox this week and caught my eye:
- A second vaccine against Ebola is heading for clinical trials as the outbreak that began more than 14 months ago continues to claim lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (via the LSHTM)
- Elsewhere on the continent, UN agencies warn that a record 45 million people in parts of Southern Africa hit by drought are facing a food crisis, with more severe shortages coming in the next 6 months. (via Reuters)
- Turkish scientist Bülent Şık has been convicted for revealing results of a study into environmental pollution and carcinogens in Turkey. (via The Lancet, free access with registration)
- There’s some good news: Brazil is the first malaria-endemic country to approve the single-dose drug tafenoquine (Kozenis) for ‘radical cure’ of P. vivax malaria. (via Medicines for Malaria Venture, which is involved in the drug’s development)
- And here’s a viewpoint about the perils of doing research to support NGO work, by researcher Pierre Basimise Ngalishi Kanyegere. (via From Poverty to Power)
On journalism:
- Local news has suffered in recent years; it’s also seen by some as a solution to public mistrust in journalism. A study by the Knight Foundation and Gallup suggests that it is more trusted than national news, but mostly because national news is not very trusted to begin with — and trying to strengthen local journalism might not be so easy. (via the Nieman Lab)
- Perhaps unsurprisingly, Facebook News isn’t going to help either, says Heidi Legg. (via CNN)
Opportunities knocking:
- The Rockefeller Foundation is accepting applications for its next practitioner residency at Bellagio — closes November 15. I was heading there this time last year and highly recommend it.
- Journalists, researchers and writers from across Europe are invited to apply for the second Resonant Voices Fellowship programme — closes November 25.
- If you’re based in London and want to skill-up in mobile journalism, check out this one-day training offered by the Association of British Science Writers — happening November 8.
Highlights from my network:
- Director Leah Borromeo of Disobedient films took home the Best Short Documentary award at the Oscar-qualifying Austin Film Festival a few days ago. That was for The Mortician of Manila, a film that tells the story of Orly Fernandez, who manages and lives at a 24-hr funeral parlour in Manila. A window into Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. One to watch.
- Check out this commentary in the Scientific African by my mentee Rafiou Agoro, on why science should be taught in local languages. I had nothing to do with this piece, but we worked together on his plans for the African Diaspora Scientists Federation and I’m hugely proud!
A final note: on my playlist right now is Michael Kiwanuka’s latest album, which got the 5-star treatment by the Guardian.
Happy weekend!

