Remembering Kent Campbell

On February 21, Dr. Carlos “Kent” Campbell, a friend and colleague of so many in the global health community, passed away. Known to many at PATH for his kind, charismatic demeanor and good-natured sense of humor expressed in his southern drawl, Kent was a dedicated leader in the fight against malaria who had a profound impact on the global effort to control and eliminate the disease.

Kent’s time at PATH began in 2004 with the launch of the Malaria Control and Elimination Partnership in Africa (MACEPA). He served as MACEPA’s director until 2008, when he became director of the PATH Malaria Center of Excellence.

“Kent was a true force of nature,” said Kammerle Schneider, PATH’s Chief Global Health Programs Officer. “He was a builder and loved to work alongside committed people to take on difficult and seemingly impossible challenges, like malaria elimination. He built a partnership of people working together—and left an indelible mark on PATH. We carry his fire, commitment, and vision of a more equitable world in all we do today.”

Kent’s career in malaria began in the mid-1970s when, as a pediatrician with the United States Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), he and his family spent four years in El Salvador working with the Ministry of Health on nationwide malaria control. Of this experience, he would later write, “The direction of my career was established after witnessing the catastrophic toll malaria had on El Salvador communities. I hadn’t set out to battle this infection and disease. In reality, it chose me.”

In the decades that followed, malaria would go from a disease on the rebound following an abandoned eradication campaign to the target of a renewed global call for elimination. That the perception of what was possible in the fight against malaria changed during that time was due in part to Kent’s leadership. He was unfailingly committed to better understanding the disease, as well as the systems and interventions that could curb its devastating effects, particularly in Africa, where more than 90 percent of the world’s malaria deaths occur.

Kent would say in 2014, “Building a set of systems changes forever the potential of African communities: that’s what’s kept me in this business. When I started, malaria was merely a biological entity people studied in the lab, and I’ve seen a rapid shift during my career.”

Beyond the biology of malaria, Kent had a deep understanding of the resources needed to combat the disease.

“Kent liked to remind me that the challenge presented by malaria is not one of medicine—we know what causes it, how to prevent it, how to treat it,” said Dr. Elizabeth Chizema, Coordinator of Zambia’s End Malaria Council. “The challenge of malaria is management and logistics. It's the right people and systems, at the right time and place, that will end this disease. Most of all, Kent inspired and encouraged us to get on with the job.”

As a consultant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2003, Kent contributed to the development of the Foundation's malaria control program in Africa. This led to the founding of MACEPA at PATH, which is funded by the Gates Foundation. With Kent’s leadership, MACEPA partnered with African countries to develop malaria control strategies.

“I remember Kent as a true malaria champion and I had the privilege to interact with him during my early years at PATH,” said Dr. Nanthalile Mugala, PATH Chief of Africa Region. “Through the MACEPA project, which he founded, many proven malaria interventions have been introduced and scaled, saving millions of lives in the continent—in countries like Zambia, Senegal, and Ethiopia. His legacy will live on through the communities that have benefited from his lifelong passion and vision to fight malaria.”

Notable among MACEPA’s work under Kent’s leadership was its close collaboration with the Zambian government to implement Scale-up for Impact (SUFI). This effort to rapidly deliver proven malaria tools resulted in Zambia becoming the first country in Africa to successfully achieve high coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), indoor spraying of insecticides, and new diagnostics and medications. The SUFI approach soon became the standard for malaria control and was included as a core component of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria’s Global Malaria Action Plan.

“MACEPA was truly created with so much input from both Kent and Rick Steketee,” said Dr. Regina Rabinovich, Director of the Malaria Elimination Initiative at ISGLOBAL at the University of Barcelona and former Director of the Infectious Diseases division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “It was a time when malaria was really stuck. It was my honor to lead the evaluation team for certification in El Salvador years later—with many seeds planted during his time there. That’s Kent’s legacy, always unseen: empowering country teams and leaders based on good science and strategy. I’m thankful for the time I got to learn from him.”

Kent’s energy, vision, enthusiasm, and dedication to mentoring had a resounding impact on those who worked with him throughout his career. “He was a dedicated mentor, continuously challenging me and all those around him to think and do in new and bigger ways,” recalled Schneider.

“Those of us who worked closely with Kent over many years will remember him as a constant friend, mentor, and supporter who encouraged us all in our efforts to control and eventually eliminate the world’s deadliest disease,” agreed Dr. David Brandling-Bennett, former Senior Advisor on Malaria at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Many significant contributors to the fight against malaria point to Kent as the one who first set them on their malaria journey. Among those are longtime friends and collaborators Dr. Rick Steketee, former MACEPA Science Director, CDC Malaria Branch Chief, and Deputy U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator, and Dr. Larry Slutsker, former Director of Malaria and NTDs at PATH, as well as of KEMRI-CDC and the CDC Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria.

“Kent mentored many people at CDC—wherever he went—and I was blessed to be one of them,” said Steketee. “Meeting him in 1985 launched my CDC career in global health and malaria; working with him closely on MACEPA was the transition of taking knowledge and science to supporting country programs that saved children’s lives. Nothing could be more fulfilling.”

Slutsker had similarly fond memories of Kent’s mentorship. “Kent Campbell literally changed my life,” he recalled. “I met him in 1987 when I joined CDC as a brand-new Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer looking for a training assignment. I had zero global health experience, but Kent’s enthusiasm, passion, energy, and vision for malaria convinced me join his team. He was a brilliant, inspiring, and generous mentor who helped me understand the challenges and opportunities to work in malaria and make a difference. Kent set me on an incredible journey, and I am forever grateful.”

Kafula Silumbe, MACEPA Team Lead, also reflected on Kent's ambition and passion.

“The first time I met Kent in April 2005, he asked me, ‘Do you think we can distribute ITNs for free in Zambia?’” he recalled. “From then on, we embarked on a mentorship program that lasted for a number of years. Kent would often remind me that malaria is a community-based disease and logistics management is a key aspect in preventing malaria. I will forever be grateful to Kent for the passion he exhibited and work ethic that helped several of us that were privileged to work with this man to want to find solutions that would benefit communities against the scourge of malaria. He was a true warrior in the fight against malaria.”

Kent’s lifetime of contributions to the malaria fight was recognized by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2012, when he was awarded the prestigious Joseph Augustin LePrince Medal.

Reflecting on his career, Kent said, “I am continually amazed—and surprised, even, at times—at how rapidly and dramatically we’ve decreased child deaths based solely on malaria interventions. It is a great testimony that given the right tools and financing, national programs with our assistance can make an enormous impact.”