Halidou Tinto

Pharm D and Medical scientist by background, Halidou Tinto is the Regional Director of the Institute for Health Sciences research (IRSS) in Nanoro, Burkina Faso. He is widely recognised as a leader in successfully evaluating the safety and efficacy of drugs and vaccines against malaria, the major cause of disease and death amongst children in Africa. After a PhD at the Intitute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp (ITM) in Belgium, he founded the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN - www.crun.bf) in Burkina Faso in 2009. From 10 people at its creation, CRUN has steadily expanded to over 400 employees and students and is now the exemplar of an outstanding African institution created and led by an African scientist and a leading centre for training young scientists and clinicians in the design and conduct of clinical trials. Prof. Tinto has made several key contributions towards the development and deployment of the current two licensed malaria vaccines (RTS,S & R21) and is making a major contribution towards testing the next generation of vaccines. He is member of the African Academy of Science (AAS) and the National Academy of Science and Arts in Burkina Faso (ANSAL-BF). He was recognised in late 2021 as one of the African Game Changers of the Year by the journal Jeune Afrique and was listed in December 2023 among Nature journal’s top 10 individuals who had helped to make outstanding discoveries and bring attention to crucial issues in the world. Most recently in 2024, he was jointly awarded the title of Honoris Doctorate by the Universities of KU-Leuven and UL-Louvain in Belgium. He published over 400 articles in peer-reviewed journals.