Post by Udani Samarasekera

My first obituary for The Lancet Infectious Diseases pays tribute to renowned Australian-born British scientist Dame Bridget Ogilvie (1938-2026). As well as being a highly respected and visionary Director of the Wellcome Trust in the 1990s, she was a pioneering parasitologist who, with her colleague, first showed that helminths (parasitic worms) could vary their antigen expression in response to the host’s immune response. A global health advocate, she expanded Wellcome’s international partnerships, establishing the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (initially in Viet Nam) and the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Research Project during her tenure. After her retirement from Wellcome, her roles included serving as the founding Chair of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) Board, helping launch the organisation in 1999. There, she guided the development of MMV’s first life-saving malaria medicines. Colleagues I contacted called her “very wise”, “unrivalled”, “generous”, “enthusiastic, far-sighted, and very collaborative”. Ogilvie was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1996 New Year Honours List. In 2007, she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia’s highest civilian honour. Full obituary in the July issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases https://lnkd.in/eacYtPtB #womanscientist #womanleader #globalhealth #researchfunder #infectiousdiseases #parasitology #malaria