Portrait of a scientist in the International Network: Elliot Rakotomanana, an anthropologist tackling malnutrition in Madagascar

Each month for the coming semester, the International Affairs Department will present the portrait of a scientist in the Institut Pasteur International Network. This monthly snapshot will offer a glimpse of the career, commitment and challenges – together with some choice anecdotes – of those whose efforts ensure that Pasteurian research reaches every continent worldwide.

The third portrait is of Elliot Rakotomanana that, with a master’s-level degree in the biochemistry of nutrition, is currently pursuing his studies in the social anthropology of health. As a researcher at the Institut Pasteur in Madagascar, this 37-year-old  is participating in the AFRIBIOTA research program, an innovative multidisciplinary project that seeks better understanding of chronic childhood malnutrition and pediatric environmental enteropathy (PEE).

"In Madagascar, almost half of children under 5 are affected by chronic malnutrition," a situation that amply justifies Elliot Rakotomanana’s dedication to the problem of malnutrition. For his family, "science is something very important."

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