Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award

Recognizing Emerging African Leaders in Infectious Disease

Background

Dr. Merle Sande was a visionary; known for his enthusiasm for work as well as life, his joy in teaching, and his outstanding leadership abilities. He was a renowned infectious diseases specialist with a brilliant career who loved medicine and pursued it as an academic endeavor. His passion made his teaching evocative as he transmitted his love of learning to others. Merle had an indomitable spirit, a remarkable breadth of knowledge and a knack for persuading his students and colleagues that they were as excited about the subject as he was. His dreams knew no boundaries. He was an inspiration to all that surrounded him in life and in the field of medicine.

Dr. Sande’s most indelible mark on life, however, occurred when he focused his attention on the AIDS crisis in Africa and established the Academic Alliance (AA) and Accordia Global Health Foundation. As Chief of Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital in the early 1980s, Merle had been on the frontlines when AIDS hit San Francisco. In those early years, there was no treatment, and he helplessly watched as thousands died. Hope emerged with antiretrovirals. However, the AIDS crisis in Africa grew, and Merle was impatient to help. He gathered his colleagues and convinced them that together, with their experience and resources, they could stem the tide of the African pandemic. He had a mission and the foresight to realize that the real challenge to the African HIV/AIDS crisis was to build healthcare capacity, specifically by training physicians and healthcare professionals to care for the vast numbers of HIV infected patients. Merle realized the paramount need to strengthen and upgrade academic medical centers in sub-Saharan Africa, so they could educate and prepare a generation of healthcare professionals skilled in the best practices to lead a resurgent effort against infectious disease. His vision came to fruition when the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) in Kampala, Uganda was created as a preeminent center in sub-Saharan Africa for infectious disease training, treatment, and research. Through Dr. Sande’s dream, IDI is providing opportunities for emerging African healthcare leaders and empowering a new generation that are working to overcome the burden of HIV and other infectious diseases in Africa.

The Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award

The Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award is annually given to an emerging African leader who has contributed to the field of infectious disease in Africa, and embodies the passion, intellectual drive, and spirit of Dr. Sande.  The award honors young leaders with remarkable accomplishments in teaching, research and/or clinical science.  

The awardee is invited to hold two days of rounds, lectures, and a keynote address at the Infectious Diseases Institute in Kampala, Uganda for international infectious disease experts. Travel support, accommodations, and a small honorarium will be provided to the distinguished lecturer.  Funding for the Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award is provided by his family, in his memory.

Previous Awardees

Accordia Global Health Foundation announced Dr. Christian Happi as the 2011 Sande Awardee. Dr. Happi is specifically honored for his outstanding work on the molecular basis for Plasmodium falciparum resistance to antimalarial drugs.

Click here to read about the 2010 Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award recipient, Professor WD Francois Venter, and to view his keynote address on Developing a Coherent Approach to HIV in Africa.

Application Requirements and Procedure

The application period for 2012 is now open. Nominations and applications will be accepted through February 17, 2012, and the award will be announced in March 2012. Click here to download the 2012 award application and materials.

For more information

If you have any questions related to the Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award or the application or evaluation process, please email sandeaward@accordiafoundation.org.

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