This year the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (bit awkward and confusing the way it is named) was awarded to three researchers in what only can be described as recognising achievements that were very basic, practical and low on the radar when it comes to “high profile and attention grabbing”; for research on parasitic diseases.
The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awards discoveries regarding novel therapies for some of the most devastating parasitic diseases: River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis) and Malaria. The distribution of these diseases is quite similar and is collectively shown in blue on the world map. (from http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2015/press.html)
The prize, awarded to William Campbell (25%), Satoshi (24%) and Youyou Tu (50%), was “for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites” and the other half to Youyou Tu “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria”. The descriptions of their work, as included in the award, can best be described as simple and low-tech, but that had massive implications for the poorer regions of the world. More details can be found on the website for the Nobel Prize. One interesting point to note was the credit given to Merck CEO Roy Vagelos for making ivermectin (the drug developed by Campbell and Satoshi) freely available for the treatment of parasitic diseases (but I believe for humans only).
One final note. Ivermectin is one of the most common and widely used drugs in the animal industry, from pets to animals for human consumption.