Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD is a South African infectious diseases epidemiologist, professor in Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University, Pro-Vice Chancellor for African Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV. She is a Member of the USA National Academy of Medicine and Fellow of: The World Academy of Science; African Academy of Science and the Academy of Science of South Africa. Her over 200 peer reviewed publications, books and book chapters contributions spans over three decades of research focused on women’s health, the evolving HIV epidemic and HIV prevention technologies for women that includes the CAPRISA 004 trial that provided proof of concept that anti-retrovirals can prevent HIV infection. Her research has been widely recognized and includes the 2020 John Dirk-Gairdner Global Health Award and the 2020 Christophe Merieux Infectious Diseases Award. She is a member of the South African Ministry of Health Covid-19 Advisory Group and the Executive Oversight Committees for the WHO Solidarity Therapeutics and Vaccine Trials.
