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Medical research – a woman from Geneva at the forefront of cancer vaccines

May 18, 2022

Geneva woman at the forefront of cancer vaccines

Madiha Al-Darwazi has been nominated for a European Patent Office award for her progress in the field of therapeutic vaccines.

Published: 17.05.2022, 10:00 AM

With French immunologist Elodie Bellino, Madiha El-Darwazi (above) developed a technique that strengthens and prolongs a patient's immune response once she is injected with the therapeutic vaccine. — With French immunologist Elodie Bellino, Madiha El-Darwazi (above) developed a technique that strengthens and prolongs a patient’s immune response once she is injected with the therapeutic vaccine.

OEB

There is a lot of talk about therapeutic vaccines, but if research continues to advance, it often runs into two pitfalls: either they don’t elicit a strong enough immune response, or they only have an effect on a small number of patients. Madiha El-Darwazi, a biotechnology engineer, has developed a technology that combines different components of a vaccine in a way that enhances the immune response.

This invention was developed, together with French immunologist Elodie Bellino, on a medical platform named we will (It means “good” in Swahili). “A tool that can revolutionize the treatment of cancer, and thus save many lives,” stated the President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Antonio Campinos,