CAPRISA Director inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society in London
World-renowned South African AIDS researcher and scientist, Professor Salim Abdool Karim joined some 40 leading scientists globally, who were inducted as Fellows of the prestigious Royal Society, the world’s oldest science academy on Friday 11 July in London. Established in 1660 by Royal Charter, the Royal Society has included many of the world’s leading scientists over the past four centuries from Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin to Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. To qualify for a Royal Society Fellowship, an individual must have made a 'substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical science'.
On his return from the induction today, Abdool Karim said that the enormity of the occasion of the Royal Society “hits you when you have to go up during the induction ceremony to sign “the book”. This is the same original book that was signed back in 1660 by Sir Christopher Wren and the others who founded the Royal Society. This book has the signatures of many of world’s great scientists such as Stephen Hawking, whose painting is on their walls, Darwin, Einstein among others.”
“I felt truly humbled to be in such august company – and I know that I could never have achieved this without the amazing people that work, both in CAPRISA and our many collaborators,” said Abdool Karim who is the Director of CAPRISA, CAPRISA Professor of Global Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University in New York and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In South Africa, Abdool Karim is one of three current Fellows of the Royal Society.
Photo: South African scientist, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, stands in front of the poster of new fellows. Each of the new fellows delivered a 10 minute presentation on their research.