Dr. Frank Richards, Jr. has been named the recipient of the 2025 Merck Mectizan Award for his outstanding contributions to the elimination of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
Ms. Marilyn Mainardi, Merck’s* Head of Global Product Donations, presented the award to Dr. Richards in Bogotá, Colombia, at the XXXV InterAmerican Conference on Onchocerciasis (IACO). This was a fitting location to present the award to Dr. Richards, who played a key role in developing Mectizan distribution strategies in the Americas. He was deployed to Guatemala by the Centers for Disease Control when Merck announced the donation of Mectizan in 1987.
In 1995, Dr. Richards helped launch The Carter Center’s river blindness program. He served as director of The Carter Center’s river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, schisotosomiasis, and malaria programs until he retired in 2024.
Dr. Richards’ 30+ years of leadership contributed significantly to success in the Americas where the first four countries were verified by WHO for eliminating transmission of river blindness. Thanks to his leadership in Africa, hundreds of millions of people no longer need treatment for river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
Throughout his career, he fearlessly challenged the belief that elimination of transmission was not feasible in Africa. Under his direction the River Blindness Elimination Program assisted five countries in Africa in interrupting transmission and stopping millions of treatments for river blindness. This year, Niger was verified as the first country in Africa to eliminate river blindness.
We are grateful for his leadership, vision, and extraordinary contributions to river blindness and lymphatic filariasis elimination. Dr. Richards’ work has improved the lives of millions.
*Merck & Co., Inc. is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada.