2024 Honorary Award for his research in health anthropology on child malnutrition
Elliot Fara Nandrasana Rakotomanana is a health anthropologist at the Institut Pasteur in Madagascar. Born in Antananarivo in 1980, he obtained a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in biochemistry applied to nutrition and food science from the University of Antananarivo in 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, he worked for the Italian NGO Reggio Terzo Mondo on nutritional support projects for children in several regions of Madagascar. After studying at Hiroshima University (Japan) from 2010 to 2012, he worked for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as an operational research manager to strengthen the HIV/AIDS prevention programme in Madagascar. Since 2014, he has been working with the Institut Pasteur de Madagascar on a socio-anthropological study to identify the socio-cultural determinants of stunting in children under five in three districts of Madagascar. Given the importance of the anthropological approach, he began a thesis in social and cultural anthropology at the University of Bordeaux, as part of a multidisciplinary and multi-site research project (Madagascar and the Central African Republic) entitled Afribiota. He obtained his doctorate in 2023. Since September 2024, he has been head of the “Health and Social Sciences” team at the Institut Pasteur.
The Foundation wished to honor him for his research in health anthropology on child malnutrition and his commitment to tackling public health challenges in Madagascar.
Watch Elliot’s video portrait
About
The Research Prizes of the French Red Cross Foundation, awarded with the support of the Red Cross of Andorra, aim to highlight scientific work already completed or innovative lines of thought devoted to humanitarian and social issues, both in the North and in the South. Open to all disciplines in the human and social sciences and to all nationalities, they reward scientific excellence and human commitment, and promote scientific knowledge, ethical reflection and social innovation to encourage action in favour of the most vulnerable.
In 2024, the awards were presented with the support of the Andorran Red Cross.