- Profile - Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum
Date of birth
March 17th, 1942 (in the DRC)
Education Career
1969 M.D., University of Lovanium (present University of Kinshasa), DRC
1973 Ph.D. (Medicine/Virology), Rega Institute for Medical Research, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Research Career
1974-Present Professor of Microbiology (Full Professor since 1978),Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, DRC.
1976 Investigation of a mysterious disease (known later as Ebola) in Yambuku Village,Province of Equateur (North-Western province of DRC).
1976-1981 Dean of Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, DRC.
1980-1986 Was involved in the national/WHO surveillance system for human monkeypox (MPX) in the Sankuru district (1978-1986) after the global smallpox eradication (1980). Co-Principle Investigator(CoPI) of the MPX surveillance study in DRC with Anne Rimoine (UCLA) and CoPI of the MPX study entitled “Clinical Characterization of MPX in DRC” with USAMRIID, Fort Detrick, USA.
1981 Sabbatical leave at Institut Pasteur of Dakar (Dr. Digoutte) for Arboviruses study (3 months) and at CDC/Atlanta (Dr. J.B. McCormick) for Ebolavirus study (3 months).
1984-1986 Dean of Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, DRC.
1985, 1996 Served as vice-chairman of the WHO workshop held at Bangui (Central African Republic) on the African AIDS definition(1985) and during a WHO’s mission conducted in 1996, he provided the first assessment of the alarming HIV/AIDS prevalence in Kampala, Uganda.
1995 Detection and struggle measures against the first urban Ebola virus Hemorrhagic Fever outbreak in Kikwit, Province of Bandundu, DRC.
1996 WHO’s mission for Implementation of control measures for Ebola outbreak in Mayibout village, Gabon.
1996, 2001 President (under the aegis of WHO) of International Committee on struggle against Ebola virus Hemorrhagic Fever outbreaks in Mayibout 2 (1996), Mekambo (2001)/Gabon, in Mbomo(2001)/Congo Brazzaville.
1997 WHO’s mission for the assessment of laboratories capability in the Great Lakes countries (DRC, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania) to detect epidemics of cholera, dysentery and meningitis.
1998-Present General Director of National Institute for Biomedical Research(INRB), DRC.
1998 WHO's mission to Investigate the Rift Valley Fever Epidemic in Garissa and Wajir, Kenya.
1999 WHO's mission as the chairman of the International Scientific and technical Committee against Marburg Virus Outbreak in Durba/Watsa, DRC.
1999-2000 President (under the aegis of WHO) of International Committee on struggle against Marburg virus Hemorrhagic Fever outbreaks in Watsa/Durba, Oriental Province, DRC.
2000 WHO's mission for the assessment of a Multidisease Surveillance Center in Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso.
2001 WHO's Mission to monitor the WHO-Afro Polio laboratory at the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal.
2001 WHO's Mission to monitor the WHO-Afro Polio laboratory at the Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan.
2007 World Bank Group Short Term Consultant for FAO/WB/OIE/WHO/IBAR/Joint Mission for Rapid Assessment of Avian and Human Influenza in Madagascar for Integrated National Action Plan (February, 2008).
2007-2014 President (under the aegis of WHO) of International Committee on struggle against Ebola virus Hemorrhagic Fever outbreaks in Mweka (2007-2008), Isiro (2012) and in Boende (2014), DRC.
2018-2019 Principal Investigator (PI) of the ring vaccination Study with the Merck rVSV-Zebov-GP vaccine in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, DRC.
Honors and Awards
1996 Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Léopard (National Distinguishing Award), Zaire, 1996.
2001 Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary International.
2004 National Gold Medal for High Achievement in Science, Art, and Literature.
2015 Lifetime Achievement Award, 7th International Symposium on Filoviruses (Washington).
2015 Christophe Mérieux Prize (Paris).
2015 Royal Society Pfizer Advanced Award (London).
2017 Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Lubumbashi (DRC).
2017 Honorary International Fellow, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).
2018 U.S.Patent No.10,160,795 issued December 25, 2018 for Neutralizing Antibodies To Ebola Virus Glycoprotein And Their Use;
2019 (May) Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Antwerp (Belgium)