Prestigious Kuwait prize for South African AIDS researcher

22 November 2018

 

22 November 2018

MEDIA STATEMENT

Prestigious Kuwait prize for South African AIDS researcher

Durban, South Africa. Professor Salim S. Abdool Karim has been named a recipient of the prestigious Al-Sumait Prize for research contributions to African Development. The award, comprising $500,000 and a gold medal, will be handed to Abdool Karim by the Amir of Kuwait at an awards ceremony to be held on 5th December in Kuwait. The Al-Sumait prize “recognizes the best studies, scientific projects, applied research, and innovative initiatives that have a significant impact and lasting influence on advancing progress to economic and social development in Africa”.

The award was established by His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Amir of the State of Kuwait, in 2013 and is named after the late Dr Abdulrahman Al-Sumait, a Kuwaiti medical doctor who dedicated his life to raising funds to support humanitarian and charity work for health, education and food projects for the less fortunate in African Nations. The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and a Board of Trustees oversee the prize. The two other awardees for 2018, Professor Sheila West of Johns Hopkins University and the Rakai Project Research Team of Uganda, will each receive $250,000 and medals.

Professor Abdool Karim, who is the Director of the Durban-based Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and CAPRISA Professor of Global Health at Columbia University, New York, is renowned for his seminal scientific contributions in HIV prevention and treatment.   He was co-leader of the CAPRISA 004 tenofovir gel trial that provided proof-of-concept that antiretrovirals can prevent sexually transmitted HIV infection and herpes simplex virus type 2 in women. His clinical research on TB-HIV treatment has shaped international guidelines on the clinical management of co-infected patients. He is co-inventor on patents that have been used in several HIV vaccine candidates and in passive immunisation strategies with broadly neutralising antibodies.

A leading figure in global HIV policy, Professor Abdool Karim Chairs the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) HIV Strategic and Technical Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the WHO’s TB-HIV Task Force. “I am honoured and humbled to a recipient of this prize. It is really a recognition for the hundreds of scientists who have toiled many hours in their laboratories, clinics and communities in undertaking studies with me over the last 30 years. I am deeply thankful to the thousands of individuals who have participated in these studies – none of this could have been achieved without their dedication and commitment”.

Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Nobel Prize Laureate for discovering HIV, congratulated him on receiving this award, saying “this is a well-deserved recognition for Professor Abdool Karim for his excellent research that has made a major impact on the HIV epidemic in Africa”.

Notes:

The Al-Sumait Prize: established by the State of Kuwait five years ago, the Al-Sumait Prize is awarded annually to an individual or an organisation in one of three fields – Food Security, Health and Education in ‘recognition and appreciation of the best studies, scientific projects, applied research and innovation that have made a significant and lasting influence in advancing progress to economic and social development on the continent of Africa’.  The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and the international Board of Trustees, comprises respected philanthropists and experts in the field, including Bill Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

Professor Salim S. Abdool Karim is a South African clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist who is widely recognised for his research contributions in HIV prevention and treatment. He is Director of CAPRISA and CAPRISA Professor of Global Health at Columbia University. He is also Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Cornell University, New York and an Associate Member of The Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. He serves on the Boards of several journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Global Health, Lancet HIV and mBio. He is a member of the Royal Society of South Africa, Academy of Science of South Africa, African Academy of Sciences and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Microbiology and the Association of American Physicians.

The HIV epidemic at a glance:

In 2017 (the latest data available):

  • 36.9 million people globally were living with HIV (~70% live in Africa).

  • 21.7 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy.

  • 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV.

  • 940 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

  • 77.3 million people have become infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic.

  • 35.4 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic.

For more information, please contact:

Ms Smita Maharaj, CAPRISA on cell: 082-8069931