Dr Glenda Gray

 

Dr Glenda Gray, the recipient of the Outstanding African Scientist award, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Her work on the epidemiology and biology of HIV as well as her advocacy work for improving the care of HIV-infected individuals are well recognised.

She is also the recipient of the Nelson Mandela for Health and Human Rights Award for her instrumental work in reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1.

Dr Gray is the founding Executive Director of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Cape Town, South Africa. She and her team have demonstrated relevant outcomes on prevention of mother-to-child transmission, as well as mortality of infants diagnosed with HIV, which has changed international treatment guidelines for children.

During her speech at the award ceremony, she said: “The work I have done in the field of HIV characterises the spirit of EDCTP to improve prevention and treatment strategies for HIV in sub-Saharan Africa”.

Dr Gray hopes to “continue to act as a stimulus for HIV research that will impact on the lives of South Africans”. She aims to use the cash prize from the award to support two PhD projects led by young women scientists: a project that relates to the burden of pain and how HIV affects the prevalence of pain, and a project to support adherence strategies for PREP use amongst sex workers in Soweto.

 

Dr Graeme Meintjes

Dr Graeme Meintjes who received the Rising Star award, is an Associate Professor of Medicine and an Adult Infectious Diseases physician based at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He completed his undergraduate medical studies at UCT and obtained his PhD in 2011 with a thesis that focused on the diagnosis, treatment and immunopathogenesis of paradoxical tuberculosis-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS).

He was a Wellcome Trust Training Fellow from 2007 until 2011, and was awarded a 5-year Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 2012. He jointly established and ran the Infectious Diseases Unit at GF Jooste Hospital in Cape Town from 2004. In 2012 he became a full member of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at UCT.

In his speech, Dr Meintjes thanked EDCTP and its European Participating States for their support of his current work in the Pred-ART trial, which is also co-funded by the South African Department of Science and Technology. The trial aims to identify a pharmacological strategy for preventing TB Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (TB-IRIS) in high risk HIV-TB patients.

Dr Meintjes added that he is honoured to receive the EDCTP Award. Regarding the future, Dr Meintjes plans to continue to develop his research on issues in HIV-TB co-infection, but also to broaden his research to address other issues related to the treatment of TB in order to improve treatment outcomes. He adds: “I sincerely hope that my research output in the next decade can live up to the faith shown in me by the EDCTP in making this award”.

EDCTP 2013 Prizes

The EDCTP awards recognise a Rising Star Scientist and an Outstanding Scientist.

The Rising Star Award is for scientists who are 45 years of age or younger, mid-career researchers who have made significant achievements in their field and who will continue to become leaders in their research field.

The Outstanding Scientist Award is for senior researchers who have made outstanding achievements in their field and who are recognised as research leaders in Africa.

In addition to their scientific excellence, the awardees will have made major contributions to the EDCTP objectives of strengthening clinical research capacity in Africa and supporting South-South and North-South networking.

The awards are open to scientists from sub-Saharan Africa and who have spent the majority of their careers based in Africa working in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria within the scope of the EDCTP programme.