Vice Chair for Research Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Has been recognized for her dedicated research focused in Africa on ways to improve trichiasis surgery outcomes and eliminate blinding trachoma. Her work has contributed to the control of blindness for both children and adults.
She has been instrumental in the development of the World Health Organization SAFE strategy for Trachoma prevention and control, a sustainable strategy that is now widely used throughout the world and is preventing blindness among both children and adults. Professor West continues her work on neglected tropical diseases in the poorest communities with partners across the globe.
Director: CAPRISA
Professor of Global Health: Dept of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research): University of KwaZulu-Natal
Director: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in HIV Prevention
Adjunct Professor of Medicine: Cornell University
Associate: Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Havard University
Has been recognised for his contributions to science in HIV treatment and prevention over the past three decades, which have led to significant changes in health policy and practices worldwide. He has published more than 350 papers in world-class medical journals and his efforts in research on prevention and treatment of AIDS patients has been a major factor in the decline in HIV/AIDS and mortality rates in Africa and the world.
His findings on HIV-TB, a leading cause of death in Africa, are specifically mentioned in many country treatment policies and guidelines, and are being implemented worldwide. The impact is highly tangible (eg. HIV-TB deaths have halved in South Africa since 2012).
Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP) has and is playing an important role in improving public health in the African continent by fighting against HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, and for discovering -three decades ago- the first clinical symptoms of what was then a new medical phenomenon called “slim disease” on the African continent.
The program has also succeeded in documenting the importance of male circumcision and its positive impact as an effective means of reducing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, while the publications of the program in prestigious medical journals have had a significant impact on health policies in Africa and the world.
RHSP employs 350 full-time Ugandan research and clinical staff that include epidemiologists, demographers, clinical and basic science researchers, behavioral, laboratory scientists, and research support staff. Additional RHSP staff, about 370, provide HIV treatment and prevention services resulting from RHSP research.
