Personal Information

Age: 71 years old 

Date of birth: November 3, 1949.

Nationality: Colombian

Place of birth: He born in the municipality of Ataco in the department of Tolima (Colombia)

Occupation: Scientific

Distinctions:

·  The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize (1988)
· Princess of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research (1994)
· Robert Koch Prize (1994)

First days and studies

He was born in the municipality of Ataco in the department of Tolima in Colombia with 13 brothers. He finished his baccalaureate studies at the José Max León School in Bogotá, Colombia. He entered the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Colombia where he obtained his degree in 1971.That year he married pediatrician Maria Cristina Gutiérrez, with whom he had three children, two of whom, also work in medicine. 

Between 1986 and 1988 the vaccine against malaria was created by Manuel Elkin Patarroyo and successfully tested in a colony of monkeys from the Amazon region, the Aotus Trivirgatus and in a group of young volunteer high school graduates who performed their military service. 

Since childhood Patarroyo felt admiration for the figure of Louis Pasteur and a great interest in immunology and virology, so that his professional career was oriented to research in various national and foreign centers, particularly American and Swedish. 

In 1983, his team began work on malaria, and immediately achieved obtaining, in 1984, a synthetic vaccine (SPF-66) against the disease, which would later be refined to reach powerful levels of effectiveness.

In a act of generosity, Manuel Elkin Patarroyo donated the vaccine, of behalf of Colombia, to the World Health Organization (WHO) in May 1993. The vaccine was endorsed by that body in 1995.

His project, his goal, his passion…

He is described as a person with a unique life project, solve the problems of vaccines. What made him commit to his goal to the point of reaching his great act, his success. His love for science and for helping people made him passionate about living to fulfill his goal.