Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. It causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or even death.
Even though increased prevention and control measures have led to a 29% reduction in malaria mortality rates globally since 2010, in 2017, malaria still killed more than 400,000 people around the world.
Kritika Singh, who is now studying bioengineering at Northeastern University, started a nonprofit, Malaria Free World in 2014, to promote research and education about the epidemic. In addition, with help from faculty advisors, in 2017 she founded the Northeastern’s Global Health Initiative. It is a student-led conference that seeks to inspire their peers to care about health around the world.
Some of the topics discussed at the last conference, in October, were HIV prevention, the environment’s effects on human health, and the role of robots in tracking epidemics.
“I want to get the student body at Northeastern interested in global health so that people interested in these careers can get more involved,” she says.
Singh has been named a Truman Scholar. The scholarship is a national award and the premiere fellowship in the U.S. for people who are pursuing careers as public service leaders. Last year, Singh received the Goldwater Scholarship, a prestigious national award based on academic merit.
“I specifically want to focus on ending emerging diseases and on equipping the United States with the best tools we need to fight diseases that arise in this ever-changing world,” she says.
With a passion for monitoring and controlling emerging infectious diseases in the United States, Singh hopes to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Washington, D.C., in order to help shape public health policy.