Malaria community mourns the tragic loss of Dr Sylvia Meek
It is with great sadness that MMV shares news of the passing of Dr Sylvia Meek, Malaria Consortium’s Global Technical Director, on 11 May 2016, after an 18-month battle with cancer. Her death is a terrible loss for the entire malaria community.
Sylvia was highly respected and well known for her contributions to the fight against infectious disease, and malaria in particular. She helped build Malaria Consortium into the evidence-based, health research and implementation charity it is today. She had a vision to reach the most vulnerable and bridge the gaps in health systems where they were weakest, whether those gaps were between research and implementation, facility and community, or public and private sectors, with interventions based on evidence and good science.
“We at MMV were very sad to learn of Sylvia’s passing,” said David Reddy, CEO, MMV. “Many of us have worked with Sylvia over the years, and always found her to be well informed, measured, subtly humorous – and above all, deeply kind. Her long experience in malaria control informed her technical work in ways that were always valuable for MMV’s work. We will miss Sylvia, her significant accomplishments and her irreplaceable impact.”
Prior to joining Malaria Consortium, Sylvia was the Director of the Department for International Development's (DFID) resource centre for malaria control, a partnership between DFID, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Her work included providing technical advice on programme design, management and evaluation, as well as technical leadership and strategy development. Sylvia’s work with the World Health Organization took her around the world, including periods in the Solomon Islands, Namibia and Cambodia. She also worked with the World Food Programme and the United Nations Development Programme, setting up and running disease control programmes for 200,000 refugees. Most recently, Sylvia has been a highly-valued member of the WHO Malaria Policy Advisory Committee, where she helped drive some of the key policy changes related to malaria control and elimination.
MMV extends sincere condolences to Sylvia’s family and friends. She will be deeply missed. If you wish to leave a message of condolence that can be accessed by both Sylvia’s family and Malaria Consortium please send to messagesforsylvia@gmail.com.
Read the news story on Malaria Consortium’s website.
Read the news story on the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine website.