Since 2018, the Mark Wainberg Fellowship Programme, an initiative of the IAS Educational Fund, has provided expert training in medical management of people living with HIV. It aims to contribute to improving HIV service delivery on the African continent and in Asia-Pacific. Meet a change maker who has completed the programme and hear about the personal impact of the fellowship.
“The knowledge I gained from the fellowship has been instrumental in my work to improve the care and support for people living with HIV.”
Shamim Mohamed Ali, Kenya, Class of 2018
I was one of the first Mark Wainberg Fellows and did my fellowship at the Infectious Disease Institute in Uganda and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the UK. My fellowship experience provided me with the opportunity to specialize in HIV medicine. Exposure to the two HIV care systems and the flexibility of the fellowship allowed me to focus on specific areas of HIV management, thus broadening my clinical experience. In addition, the fellowship provided an opportunity to network with leading HIV clinicians and researchers, some of whom continue to be my mentors.
After my fellowship, I returned to my home institution. I am a consultant physician and lecturer at MoiUniversity and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. My fellowship experience has helped me in running the HIV resistance clinic at the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH). The HIV resistance clinic is a regional referral clinic for people failing second-line ART, those on third-line ART and those with complex HIV-related conditions, including advanced HIV disease. In addition, I co-chair the regional Technical Working Group by providing clinical consultation and training for healthcare workers in our region. I am also involved in research activities focusing on HIV drug resistance and infectious disease. The knowledge I gained from the fellowship has been instrumental in my work to improve the care and support for people living with HIV.