Dr Asel Sartbaeva
Even before COVID, immunizations prevented between 2 and 3 million deaths a year. Our reliance on cold-chain supply means transporting vaccines is challenging.
In countries where there is no infrastructure or electricity, about a third of the vaccines are lost and one in five children are left vulnerable to life-threatening diseases.
Dr Asel Sartbaeva invented a method of thermally-stable vaccines called ensilication, which are stable at room temperature, meaning they can be distributed to the developing world more easily.
In ensilication, a protective layer from an inorganic material, silica, is grown on the surface of a vaccine to make it thermally stable. This technology is being used to support efforts to ensure poorer countries can access COVID vaccines.
Sartbaeva is a lecturer in chemistry at the University of Bath and voted Woman of the Year in the 2021 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards.
Via PakApNews