Charles Rice, from factory worker to Nobel Prize in Medicine saving millions of lives: “If you think research is expensive, try disease”
The American virologist has been credited with saving the lives of millions of people and he has given his take on the future of pharmaceuticals.
The role of virology was placed into sharp focus a few years ago when the coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented halt in the world as we know it. But away from the headlines, virologists are tirelessly working against these large-scale killers.
One such scientist is American virologist Charles Rice, a Nobel Prize winner in medicine who has been credited with helping to save the lives of millions of people. In an interview with El País, Rice sounded the warning about proposed cuts to research.
Around five years ago Rice was awarded the Nobel Prize for his prior discovery of the hepatitis C virus, a pathogen that can develop into a deadly cancer. He was part of the research team that found a cure in 2007, a long way away from his first jobs at a ketchup factory, peach canning plant and a nightclub cleaner.
Rice gave his take on the biggest problems now facing the world: “The opioid epidemic is giving rise to more infections. It’s disappointing. We have drugs that could eradicate the virus, but things are not so simple.“
“Francis Collins, who was director of the National Institutes of Health for many years, got behind the effort to eradicate hepatitis C in the United States by 2030. The Biden administration allocated about $10 billion to achieve this. With the new [Trump] administration, this is all gone.”
This financial squeeze is being felt across different areas of scientific research. Trump’s cuts to universities and other research centers is starting to concern Rice, who points to the potential affects of under-investing in these crucial areas.
“It’s a pretty grim time for medical research. There’s a quote I like from Mary Lasker, who was a great supporter of the concept of the National Institutes of Health many decades ago: “If you think research is expensive, try disease.” Preventing disease is a lot cheaper than letting it happen and then trying to respond."
He continued: “Our ability to respond to the next pandemic is far worse than our response to covid-19, which was far from as good as we could do. It’s terrible. After the covid-19 experience, I thought we’d finally have a new golden age for infectious disease research, but that spirit lasted a couple of years, and then basically all those programs that were in place were stopped.”
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