Jessica Uno is winner of the World Briefing: Telling the Malaria Contest co-sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation and Malaria No More. Her winning essay earned her a trip to cover the MIM Pan-African Malaria Conference in Kenya and report back on the latest in the global effort to end malaria.

Hi everyone!

My name is Jessica Uno, or as my friends cleverly refer to me, “Juno,” (I got that nickname BEFORE the movie came out) and I am a junior at Stanford University. I have spent my entire life in the San Francisco Bay Area, which I love dearly, but any chance to travel is always a welcome opportunity. I am majoring in Anthropology and am especially interested in examining global health care issues through medical anthropology. I have been researching the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, at the Sandler Center for Basic Research in Parasitic Disease at UC San Francisco for the past four summers. Now I am exploring the roles of policy and advocacy in treating and preventing malaria in Africa. I am hoping this trip will answer some of my questions about our role in addressing underserved populations worldwide and give me a realistic vision of the condition of the malaria epidemic in Africa.

I am in the Zurich airport right now. It’s my first time in Europe! (sort of). On my way back I am definitely picking up some Swiss chocolate. My MP3 player froze during the last hour of the 7-hour flight to Zurich, and now my 8-hour flight to Kenya is looking bleak and music-less. I left Stanford at 4 AM Sunday morning, after Halloween, for a 5-hour flight to New York. No, I didn’t wear my Street Fighter costume on the plane, although I was tempted. I am pretty confused about what time or day it is. By the time I reach Nairobi I will have been traveling for 24 hours. I cannot wait to sleep in a bed rather than nap awkwardly slumped over the food tray of my airplane seat. I finally got to meet Novartis representative Rachel, who will be traveling with me the entire trip in Nairobi. I am super pumped for this trip. It will be my first time to Africa, and Rachel showed me my action-packed itinerary.

Hopefully by the end of the trip I will have had some interesting anecdotes to share with you all. Thanks for reading my first entry. I promise I will have more interesting reflections to share with you very soon.

Jessica’s trip to Kenya was supported by Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation and Malaria No More.

Tags: Jessica Uno, MIM Conference, World Briefing

Tags: Jessica Uno, MIM Conference, World Briefing
Categories:Jessica Uno: World Briefing Report