杏吧原创

HOOKWORM has been called 鈥渢he great infection of mankind鈥� 鈥� disabling, disfiguring and affecting about 740 million people worldwide. So it came as a great surprise to Peter Hotez, while researching infectious diseases in the 1980s, that no one had ever studied it. 鈥淭here were no papers on it,鈥� he recalls, and so decided to devote his work to it.

The reality he has faced for most of his career since is that there is little money for diseases that afflict only the world鈥檚 poor. Even after he had a prototype vaccine, not a single drug company would bite. He was offered one research grant, but Yale University where he was working refused to let him accept it because the organisation was demanding 30 per cent of any royalties. 鈥淭hirty per cent of zero was okay with me,鈥� says Hotez. 鈥淏ut Yale didn鈥檛 want to set a precedent.鈥�

Meanwhile Martin Fisher, who is a founder of KickStart, a non-profit organisation that designs and builds useful technology for the world鈥檚 poorest, also went through lean times. After graduating with a PhD in mechanical engineering from Stanford University in California, he applied for a Fulbright scholarship to study technology and poverty in Kenya. 鈥淚 went for 10 months and stayed 17 years,鈥� he says.

He spent much of his time volunteering, so to raise money to get his company up and running, he and his partner designed and oversaw the installation of 45,000 toilets in refugee camps. 鈥淲e became the pit latrine kings of East Africa,鈥� he jokes. Even after KickStart was launched in 1991, Fisher still spent many years working for free, but the rewards a scientist gains from this kind of work are not monetary, he says. KickStart designed and marketed a cheap foot-operated pump that can draw water from 9 metres underground and produce enough pressure to hose it to surrounding areas. Costing about $100, it allows farmers to irrigate their land and thus grow specialised crops.

鈥淭he rewards are incredible,鈥� says Fisher, who gets to meet many of the families his technology helps. Careful monitoring has shown that the simple $100 pump increases the average family鈥檚 annual income by $1000. 鈥淚t literally lifts them from below the poverty line into the middle class,鈥� he says.

Hotez also urges young researchers to look beyond obstacles. He knows how difficult it is to persist without support, but says it鈥檚 worth it when he witnesses the almost immediate alleviation of suffering. 鈥淔ollow your passion,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he funding will come.鈥�

In Hotez鈥檚 case it came when he applied to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Overnight his fortunes changed: they awarded him $18 million to proceed with his vaccine. He converted his lab at George Washington University in Washington DC into what essentially became a small pharmaceutical company.

Fisher says it鈥檚 important to understand the people you鈥檙e trying to help. 鈥淪pend time in the place you want to work,鈥� he advises. He says he was in Africa for 18 months before he designed anything useful. 鈥淯nderstand the problems you鈥檙e trying to tackle.鈥�

聯The big question is not whether we鈥檒l keep making scientific discoveries, but whether those discoveries will be used to stop the deadliest diseases, educate the world鈥檚 children, and create opportunities for the poor. If young scientists take on these challenges, they鈥檒l find that reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.聰

Even people who aren鈥檛 directly involved in humanitarian projects can act in ways that make a difference, says Gavin Yamey, a doctor and editor with open-access publisher the Public Library of Science (PLoS). Yamey reminds young scientists: 鈥淭he decision about where you publish your work has important implications.鈥�

PLoS is part of a growing movement to make biomedical literature available to all. 鈥淲e feel passionate that the results of biomedical research should be a global public good, not a commodity,鈥� says Yamey.

Making money may not be your main objective, but it鈥檚 still nice to know that there鈥檚 some floating around. Find out how much you can expect to earn.

Careers 鈥� Find out how to make the most of your career in our comprehensive special report.