Quique Bassat named Honorary International Fellow of the ASTMH

ISGlobal’s General Director Quique Bassat has been named an Honorary International Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). This is in recognition of his outstanding contributions to understanding, preventing and treating infectious diseases that affect vulnerable populations around the world.

A paediatrician and ICREA Research Professor, Bassat has dedicated his career to improving global child health by integrating clinical practice, epidemiological research and public health action. His work has focused particularly on malaria (both its prevention and treatment) with a special interest in understanding the overlap between malaria and other common childhood illnesses.

Beyond malaria, Quique Bassat has made significant contributions to the study of respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, neonatal infections and neglected tropical diseases such as yaws, conducting research in countries including Mozambique, Morocco and Bhutan. He has also led pioneering work on minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) tools to investigate causes of death in low-resource settings and on validating innovative health technologies for global health applications.

An awards ceremony took place this Monday, 10 November as part of the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) in Toronto, Canada. This is the world’s largest gathering of experts in tropical diseases and global health. The award recognises outstanding international contributions to the field, and is only open to non-US citizens.

ISGlobal’s Participation in the ASTMH Annual Meeting

Among the oral presentations, Quique Bassat spoke about prognostic biomarkers for triage and risk stratification in newborns and children in sub-Saharan Africa. ISGlobal researcher Carmen Fernández discussed new biomarkers and cutting-edge technologies for diagnosing malaria with greater sensitivity, specifically the use of extracellular vesicles to identify cryptic Plasmodium vivax infections. Arnau Pujol presented an estimate of the probability of malaria importation in southern Mozambique based on P. falciparum genomics and mobility patterns.

From the Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM), one of the Institute’s strategic partners, Mercy Opiyo presented the Entomological Surveillance Planning Tool (ESPT) to support evidence-based vector control, and Marcelino Garrine addressed the burden and antibiotic resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae in invasive and fatal paediatric infections in Mozambique.

In addition, several posters were presented by ISGlobal and CISM researchers, reflecting the breadth of their ongoing work in malaria, antimicrobial resistance and global health. One example is the poster from MESA, whose secretariat is hosted by ISGlobal, which illustrates an open-access database mapping global malaria research activities and collaborations.