Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim is the Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA, Vice-President (Southern Africa Region) of the African Academy of Sciences, Professor in Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University and Honorary Professor in Public Health at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Professor Abdool Karim is a visiting scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Visiting Lecturer at Harvard University. Prof Abdool Karim was recently honored with an honorary doctoral degree by the University of Johannesburg.

Prof Abdool Karim’s research interests are in understanding the evolving HIV epidemic in South Africa; factors influencing acquisition of HIV infection in adolescent girls and sustainable strategies to introduce HAART in low resourced settings. She was the Principal Investigator of the CAPRISA 004 tenofovir gel trial.  She is an infectious disease epidemiologist and has over the past 20 years made significant contributions to understanding the evolving HIV epidemic in South Africa. She is the recipient of several prestigious local and international awards including South Africa’s highest honour, the Order of Mapungubwe from the President of South Africa and the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Award (Africa and Arab States).