Dr. John Clemens (left) shakes hands with Mr. Qibao Liu, Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of China Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Committee, at an awards ceremony.

IVI Director-General, Dr. John Clemens, has been honored by the Guangxi Provincial Government for his contribution to the Chinese province as a foreign scientist.

Dr. Clemens has been awarded "the Golden Embroidered Ball Award," which is presented to foreign scientists who have made distinguished contributions to the development of science and technology in Guangxi. He received the award at a ceremony held at the grand hall of the Guangxi Province Communist Party Committee on January 6.

For the past seven years, Dr. Clemens has successfully led the IVI’s vaccine research programs on enteric infections and bacterial meningitis in Guangxi. Through IVI’s Diseases of the Most Impoverished (DOMI) Program, which focuses on accelerating the use of vaccines against enteric infections (cholera, typhoid fever and bacterial dysentery) in endemic areas, more than 92,000 children and adults were immunized against typhoid fever in Hechi City.

Through IVI’s Respiratory Pathogens Vaccine Program, surveillance for bacterial meningitis was conducted in Nanning City and the counties of Wuming and Yongning among 89,000 children under five years of age. This research is key for determining and justifying China´s needs for vaccines against bacterial meningitis, including the Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine.

The IVI closely collaborates with dozens of Chinese institutions, including the Guangxi Center for Disease Control, in conducting epidemiological studies and clinical trials of vaccines to accelerate the development and introduction of affordable new vaccines for the poor. Other collaborators include the national and provincial offices of the Chinese Ministry of Health, and the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as Beijing Friendship Hospital, among others.