Sierra Leone: Abu Bakarr Kamara wins MARS “2022 Best Young African Researchers” award

Sierra Leonean researcher, Abu Bakarr Kamara has been awarded the “2022 Best Young African Researcher” by the Merck Foundation. He was awarded for his research on the topic “Safety and Immunogenicity of an Ad26.ZEBOV booster dose among children previously vaccinated with the two-dose heterologous Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo Ebola vaccine regimen” which was Published on October 20, 2022. 

The Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit – MARS Awards, honours African researchers for their work and contribution towards empowering women and youth in STEM across Africa. They also recognize researchers with a special focus on Scientific Research in Infectious Diseases and Cancer Research. 

The 2022 award ceremony was done in partnership with the  African Union Scientific Technical Research Commission, and it has 7 African researchers competing in two categories – Best African Women Researchers and Best Young African Researchers. 

However, Kamara was awarded alongside two others Africans, Fongang Che Landis from Cameroon and Eze Ajaegbu from Nigeria as MARS-Best Young African Researchers 2022. 

CEO of Merck Foundation, Dr. Rasha Kelej, said the aim of the MARS awards is to empower and encourage young African researchers especially women in advancing their research capacity and promoting their contribution to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in Africa.

“Since 2016, I am extremely proud of MARS 7 winners who have been recognized under the two categories of ‘Best African Women Researchers Awards’ and ‘Best Young African Researcher Award. Our aim is to empower African young researchers and of course to empower and encourage African women researchers,” said Dr. Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation.