On November 6, 2025, two Ifakara Health Institute scientists were featured in the latest episode of The Threshold. This is a Foreign Policy podcast exploring the global fight to end infectious diseases and the innovations shaping that future.

Hosted by British-Ghanaian journalist Henry Bonsu, The Threshold brings together scientists, policymakers, and thought leaders to discuss how new scientific breakthroughs are transforming the response to epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

In Episode 5: “Out-of-the-Box Innovations Against Malaria,” Bonsu speaks with Prof. Fredros Okumu, former Director of Science at the Ifakara Health Institute and Professor at the University of Glasgow, whose research focuses on novel mosquito control tools — from next-generation insecticide-treated nets and indoor sprays to spatial repellents.

The episode also highlights the groundbreaking work of Transmission Zero, a joint project between Ifakara Health Institute and Imperial College London, which is developing genetically modified mosquitoes to reduce malaria transmission. Reporter Paul Adepoju interviews Dr. Dickson Wilson Lwetoijera, a leading entomologist at Ifakara, and Dr. Nikolai Windbichler of Imperial College, who leads the project’s molecular genetics team.

With malaria still killing nearly 600,000 people annually, most of them children under five in Africa — these cutting-edge innovations could mark a turning point in global efforts to control and ultimately eliminate the disease.

The Threshold is a seven-part Foreign Policy podcast series supported in part by the Gates Foundation.

Listen to Episode 5: “Out-of-the-Box Innovations Against Malaria” — now streaming on Foreign Policy.