Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim named recipients of the 2020 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award
CAPRISA’s Professors Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim are the laureates of the prestigious 2020 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award awarded for outstanding achievements in global health research."
The Gairdner Foundation announced the 2020 Canada Gairdner Award laureates on 31st March, recognizing some of the world's most significant biomedical research and discoveries. The Foundation said that “During these challenging times, we believe it is important to celebrate scientists and innovators from around the world and commend them for their tireless efforts to conduct research that impacts human health.”
The world-renowned infectious disease epidemiologists received the award "for their discovery that antiretrovirals prevent sexual transmission of HIV, which laid the foundations for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the HIV prevention strategy that is contributing to the reduction of HIV infection in Africa and around the world. The research undertaken in Africa by this South African couple has played a key role in shaping the local and global response to the HIV epidemic, said the Foundation.