Last month, Ifakara Health Institute's research scientist and vector biologist, Dr. Yeromin Mlacha, was featured on YiXi, a leading platform for speech and presentation events in the Chinese-speaking region. YiXi, renowned for hosting events in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, showcases inspiring talks from individuals across various fields, attracting over 2 billion views online.

Dr. Mlacha's compelling talk on the burden of malaria, both globally and in Tanzania, and the efforts of his team at Ifakara to tackle the issue caught the attention of Bill Gates, leading to a feature on Gates' WeChat page, a popular Chinese social media platform with over 846 million users. 

In his post, he said, "I'm a strong believer in innovation. But when it comes to life-saving solutions, the real impact comes from successful deployment out in the world—not just successful discovery or development in a lab."

To watch the full talk, visit this link: YiXi Talk

About Yeromin

Dr. Yeromin Mlacha is a Tanzanian vector biologist with nearly 15 years of experience in vector control programs, focusing on mosquito vectors of malaria and arboviruses like Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika. 

He leads a study in urban Dar es Salaam using machine learning to assess vector-borne disease risks and develop effective community-based responses. 

Dr. Mlacha is also the Entomology Work Package Lead for Result 4 of the DHIBITI MALARIA Project, funded by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, which aims to improve entomological monitoring for effective vector control in Tanzania by tracking insecticide resistance and malaria vector species composition.