Organization: CAPRISA
Region: Africa
Nationality: South Africa
Country: South Africa
Interests & expertise: Ageing with HIV
Profession or occupation: Healthcare worker/social service provider
What inspires you to work in the HIV field?
I am a medical doctor and I work in an area with a very high incidence and prevalence of HIV. From the start of my career, I have worked with many people living with HIV and it was always disturbing to encounter serious HIV-related illnesses and deaths. The knowledge early on that there were limited options for both prevention and cure was frustrating. Besides the effects of this virus on the individual, I was witness to the devastating impact it has on families, communities and a nation. My motivation to work in the field of HIV stems from these early experiences.
As I changed my career path to HIV research, I became even more aware of other challenges in the field, such as stigma. I have worked predominantly in HIV prevention and was fortunate to have worked on the dapivirine ring studies. The success of these studies, with regulatory body approval of the ring in South Africa, served to inspire me even more to continue work in my chosen field.
What are your goals as an IAS change maker?
From a social perspective, I would love to contribute to a change in the way HIV is perceived in our community. I believe that stigma is one of the key factors that limits uptake of testing and treatment, as well as HIV prevention methods, such as oral PrEP. As prevention is better than cure, I further hope to advance our current HIV prevention monoclonal antibody prevention programme. Lastly, as part of our monoclonal antibody work, I hope to advance our HIV cure work in people with chronic infection.