“Transforming Lives: A Northeastern Professor’s Vision to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases Affecting Millions”

This month, Northeastern University professor Richard Wamai was hiking with two students in the picturesque Tugen Hills above Kenya’s Rift Valley when they encountered a man who shared his traumatic experience with elephantiasis, a severe tropical disease.

The man gestured to a tree trunk, indicating that his leg had swelled to a similar size. Although he had recovered from the acute phase of the disease, he told Wamai that he had lost sensation in his legs and toes and could no longer wear shoes.

“There’s a stigma,” Wamai noted, as he prepares to co-chair the annual meeting of the New England Neglected Tropical Diseases Consortium on Wednesday, September 25, at Novartis Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He co-founded this organization with a colleague at Boston University five years ago.

“Neglected tropical diseases impose significant disability burdens,” Wamai explained. “They contribute to poverty.”

This year’s conference aims to unite scientists working towards the World Health Organization’s objective of reducing the incidence of a list of neglected tropical diseases by 2030.

So, what are neglected tropical diseases? The WHO estimates that one billion people are affected by these diseases, which are caused by various pathogens including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi, and toxins.

This category includes Chagas disease, transmitted by the bite of an infected insect, which can lead to serious heart and digestive complications. Other diseases, like cutaneous leishmaniasis, result in disfiguring scars and lesions on the skin, affecting the face of those affected.

“The social, psychosocial, and economic effects of the disease on the community are significant,” Wamai states, having documented these impacts in a scientific paper co-authored with his students.

Wamai has also set up a research and health center in Kenya for patients suffering from visceral leishmaniasis, a severe form of leishmaniasis that is almost always fatal without proper treatment.

He mentions that snake bites are included in the WHO’s list of neglected tropical diseases, causing between 81,410 and 137,880 deaths each year, predominantly in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These bites can lead to lasting tissue damage and limb amputations as well.

“While there is anti-venom available, supplies are limited,” says Wamai, who teaches cultures, societies, and global studies at Northeastern.

A lack of sufficient treatment options is one reason a tropical disease may be categorized as neglected.

Wamai highlights that a historical lack of funding for research and inadequate healthcare systems contributes to the ongoing prevalence of neglected tropical diseases, which primarily affect impoverished, rural communities around the world.

“When I discuss my work, I emphasize the importance of not only addressing the neglect of the disease but also the neglect of the communities affected by it,” he explains.

A plan for elimination

According to Wamai, the WHO’s 2030 roadmap aims to significantly reduce the impact of neglected tropical diseases, targeting the complete eradication of guinea worm disease and a chronic skin condition known as yaws. He believes this goal is ambitious yet attainable.

Thanks to initiatives like water filtration, health education, and the efforts of community volunteers, the incidence of guinea worm disease — which can cause severe skin eruptions leading to tetanus and gangrene — has dropped dramatically from 3.5 million cases in 1986 to just four cases so far in 2024, as reported by the Carter Center.

The center indicates that guinea worm disease could become only the second human disease ever eradicated, following smallpox, and the first to be eliminated without the aid of a vaccine.

Under Northeastern University’s direction, a consortium involving about 80 researchers, including doctoral and master’s students from the region, as well as Northeastern undergraduates who completed co-ops at Wamai’s center, The Research on Multi-Disease and Educational Services Center, is planned.

Wamai anticipates discussions will cover a range of topics, from new medications to community healthcare strategies. He is also seeking a grant for a new diagnostic tool for visceral leishmaniasis, which is the second deadliest parasitic disease globally after malaria.

“This work will engage my center in Kenya as well as a center in Ethiopia. We urgently need improved rapid diagnostics to eliminate the disease in East Africa,” he adds.

Wamai notes that Northeastern co-op students in Kenya contribute by assisting with data collection, patient records, and medication management.