US Lifetime Achievement Award for SA AIDS Researchers

South Africa’s leading AIDS researchers, Professors Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim, have been named the recipients of the esteemed Institute for Human Virology (IHV) Lifetime Achievement Award for exceptional public service for their contributions to the global AIDS response. The prestigious award was presented by Dr Robert Gallo, who discovered HIV as the cause of AIDS, at the 19^th International meeting of the IHV on 25^th October 2017, Baltimore in the United States.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim is the Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim is its Associate Scientific Director. They are both Professors in the field of Epidemiology at Columbia University, New York and are honorary academics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. They are renowned for their tireless and distinguished scientific contributions in HIV prevention and treatment research that span nearly three decades.

“To me, both of these renowned individuals have made some of the greatest contributions in the history of HIV/AIDS in public health and epidemiology relevant to prevention and care of infected people,” said Dr Gallo.  “I don’t know any person or persons who have done more to advance the proper care of people with HIV infection or the prevention of HIV infection among a population.”

Their scientific contributions have focused on trying to prevent HIV in women in Africa. They were the first to demonstrate that antiretrovirals can prevent sexual transmission of HIV in 2010, when shared the results of the CAPRISA 004 tenofovir gel trial.  The landmark CAPRISA 004 study was recognised by the journal Science as one of the Top 10 scientific breakthroughs in 2010. They also discovered that tenofovir gel prevents genital herpes, the first drug shown to be effective against this disease. Currently, they are involved in developing new innovative ways of preventing HIV in women.

Commenting on the global award for distinguished public service, the Abdool Karim’s said they “were deeply appreciative of the recognition by the IHV, a centre of excellence in HIV research.” Professor Salim Abdool Karim said, “We accept the award not just on our own behalf, but in recognition of the resilience and contributions of the thousands of South Africans, who have been central, as participants in their research, to the ongoing effort to develop better and more effective HIV prevention and treatment strategies.’’

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