Organization: Kumamoto University
Region: Africa
Nationality: Kenya
Country: Kenya
Interests & expertise: Ageing with HIV
Profession or occupation: Researcher
What inspires you to work in the HIV field?
Although it has been close to a decade since the adoption of the "treat all" strategy in low-and middle income countries, the impacts of the HIV pandemic are far from being fully mitigated. Significantly higher rates of treatment failing people and opportunistic infections continue to be recorded in low-and middle income countries while the prevalence of HIV-associated non-communicable diseases remains largely underreported. These challenges, coupled with the rising rates of new acquisitions in some low-and middle income countries, call for concerted efforts to continue devising new strategies to combat current and future challenges in the HIV response.
What are your goals as an IAS change maker?
My goal is to share ideas on HIV prevention and treatment strategies with other like-minded change makers from different parts of the world. I am particularly interested in protective immunity from HIV vaccine candidates in East Africa, where multiple HIV subtypes co-circulate. I am also keen on discussions relating to the impact of intrinsic factors, such as chronic inflammation and diverse HLA types, on immune responses to vaccine candidates.