Salim S Abdool Karim

Salim S. Abdool Karim is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Director of CAPRISA - Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa. He is also Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University, Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Cornell University, and Associate Member of The Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Harvard University.

He was co-Principal Investigator of the CAPRISA 004 trial of tenofovir gel, which provided proof of concept that antiretroviral drugs can prevent sexually transmitted HIV infection and herpes simplex virus type 2 in women. He is involved in the development, as patent co-inventor, of clade C HIV vaccines and led the first HIV vaccine trial in South Africa. His clinical research on TB-HIV treatment has impacted, and continues to shape, the international guidelines on the clinical management of co-infected patients.

He is the recipient of “TWAS Prize in Medical Sciences” from The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, the Drug Information Association’s “President's Award for Outstanding Achievement in World Health”, the South African National Science & Technology Forum Award, Columbia University’s “Allan Rosenfield Alumni Award for Excellence”, the Gold Medal Award from the Academy of Science in South Africa, and the Outstanding Senior African Scientist Award in 2011.

He is a Member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPfAR), and Member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise.