Three Nigerian physicians who survived Ebola virus disease in July 2014 after coming in direct contact with an Ebola-infected patient will speak at Vanderbilt University Medical Center next Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Benjamin Ohiaeri, M.D., founder and chief medical director of First Consultants Medical Center in Lagos, Nigeria, will join Ebola survivors Ada Igonoh, MBBS, Morris Ibeawuchi, MBBS, and Ige Adewale Adejoro, MBBS, to discuss how the hospital contained the spread of the deadly virus.
The discussion will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Room 208 Light Hall, and will be followed by a reception in the north lobby.
During their visit to Vanderbilt, the doctors have agreed to donate samples of their blood and plasma.
Researchers led by James Crowe Jr., M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, have developed a high-efficiency method of isolating from the blood of survivors highly potent, Ebola-specific neutralizing antibodies that can offer protection from infection.
Large quantities of the antibodies can then be produced. The goal is to develop antibody therapies that provide short-term protection to health care workers and others at risk of exposure to the Ebola virus.
For more information, contact Merissa Mayo, program coordinator for the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, at merissa.b.mayo@vanderbilt.edu.
