LSIPR 50 2016: Jorge Kalil and Narendra Modi

Name: Jorge Kalil

Organisation: International Union of Immunological Societies

Position: President

Jorge Kalil works as president of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS), where he has been in office since 2013. During his long career in the life sciences and medical industry, he has worked in various roles and organisations separate from his role at the IUIS, including working in research at the Professor Jean Dausset Laboratory. Dausset was a Nobel Prize laureate in 1980.

When Kalil assumed his role in 2013, he wrote a personal statement which outlined what he wanted to achieve in his time as president. This included strengthening the IUIS by having three-year functional and financial planning, increasing finances with contributions from private foundations and companies, engaging more countries in organisation activities, and highlighting activities of IUIS committees and federations.

“One has to listen and understand everyone and make wise decisions with a very broad and comprehensive vision,” he wrote. He also reflected on when his presidency ends in 2019, saying: “I hope to look back at my nine years on the executive committee and see our activities and network have steadily increased and strengthened our union.”

In 2014 the IUIS released a statement about Ebola calling for “rapid and adequate funding of trials on experimental vaccines and therapies”. The statement mentioned the Cad3 Ebola vaccine, which was developed using chimpanzee adenovirus and was found to protect animals with a single dose and was in phase one trials.

In a interview with the British Society for Immunology, Kalil said he wanted to “make us more present in the world of teaching and training. I also hope to start a mentoring programme to empower scientists in poorer countries”.

Name: Narendra Modi

Organisation: Indian government

Position: Prime minister

Narendra Modi is the 15th prime minister of India and has been in office since 2014. Some commentators have argued that he has an anti-patent agenda after he released a statement in 2014 saying: “Globally, there is no conclusive proof that strengthened IP protection promotes innovation and we should be under no illusion that strong IP protection can boost innovative activities in India.”

During a 2014 bilateral summit in the US, President Barack Obama and Modi both recognised the “extensive ongoing cooperation in the health sector” to put a stop to the Ebola virus. Obama recognised India’s contribution to the UN fund as well as its donation of protective gear in the effort to fight the disease. Modi also offered to help fight the Ebola disease, including by “investing its resources in producing modelling of the spread of the disease, jointly producing rapid deployable diagnostics, and considering joint training of response personnel.”

Also announced at the time was a new phase of the Indo-US Vaccine Action Program (VAP). It aimed to develop affordable vaccines for dengue, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well initiate cooperative activities to increase capacity in cancer research and patient care delivery, including  by developing collaborative programmes with India’s upcoming AIIMS-National Cancer Institute.

In March 2015 Modi launched India’s first indigenous rotavirus vaccine, Rotavac, which started as a research effort at the VAP. It was estimated at the time that the wide use of this vaccine could save the lives of 80,000 children a year in India alone.

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