TDR history: making a difference for over three decades
"Organizations, like families, come from somewhere and are shaped by their history. I believe that successful organizations have a sense of identity, a sense of history. Otherwise, they have no stability. The core values are what count, the organizational culture, which, like any society's culture, is the glue that keeps an entity together."
Dr Bernhard Liese, Chair, International Health Programs, Georgetown University and former World Bank representative to the JCB.
For over three decades, TDR has been making a difference to scientific research on diseases of poverty and to health in disease endemic countries. The history section of the TDR website is designed to orient you to TDR's roots, values and legacy – from the programme's foundation in 1975 and the creation of the JCB 1978 until today. Presented here is a recently-published historical account of TDR, published in 2007 to commemorate the 30-year anniversary of the founding of TDR's Joint Coordinating Board, its main governing body. Other key articles and interviews on TDR's history and legacy also are presented here, as well as a timeline of key TDR achievements.
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Making a difference — 30 years of research and capacity building in tropical diseases
TDR's history in review
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TDR wins the 2011 Gates Award for Global Health
Ambassador John Lange from the Gates Foundation says, "This year's winner has truly changed the landscape of global health." -
Making a difference: 30 years of TDR
pdf, 223kb
Article and timeline on TDR 30 year history, 10 pages
Nature Reviews Microbiology, May 2008; Vol. 6, No.5. -
TDR’s contribution toward the development of ivermectin to manage onchocerciasis (river blindness) and a detailed summary of the development and distribution of this drug across Africa
pdf, 795kb
1997 independent report by Tomoko Fujisaki and Michael R. Reich -
Eliminating river blindness, highlights from making a difference
30 Years of TDR
