1 Tu Youyou For the discovery of artemisinin, a drug therapy for malaria that has saved millions of lives across the globe, especially in the developing world. The 2011 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award honors a scientist who discovered artemisinin and its utility for treating malaria. Tu Youyou (China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing) developed a therapy that has saved millions of lives across the globe, especially in the developing world. An artemisinin-based drug combination is now the standard regimen for malaria, and the World Health Organization (WHO) lists artemisinin and related agents in its catalog of "Essential Medicines." Each year, several hundred million people contract malaria. Without treatment, many more of them would die than do now. Tu led a team that transformed an ancient Chinese healing method into the most powerful antimalarial medicine currently available. Malaria has devastated humans for millennia, and it continues to ravage civilizations across the planet. In 2008, the mosquito-borne parasites that cause the illness, Plasmodia, infected 247 million people and caused almost one million deaths. The ailment strikes children particularly hard, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa. It affects more than 100 countries—including those in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, parts of Europe—and travelers from everywhere. Symptoms include fever, headache, and vomiting; malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. Early diagnosis and treatment reduces disease incidence, prevents deaths, and cuts transmission. In the late 1950s, the WHO embarked on an ambitious project to eradicate malaria. After limited success, the disease...
