South African epidemiologist, Quarraisha Abdool Karim (b. 1960) has made significant contributions to research on HIV transmission among women and its prevention. In 2018, you voted for her for the Nob'Elle Medicine Prize!
Studies in South Africa and the United States
Quarraisha Abdool Karim was born on March 20, 1960 in Tongaat, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. In 1981, she graduated in science at the University of Durban-Westville before continuing her studies in biochemistry, and obtaining a degree in parasitology at Columbia University (United States) in 1988.
Quarraisha will continue his studies thereafter; in 2000, she obtained her doctorate in medicine at the University of Natal in South Africa.
Epidemic and the beginning of an engagement
The 1990s saw the development of the HIV epidemic in South Africa. In 1993, more than 4% of pregnant women carried the virus; in 1995, the epidemic, affecting a large number of people, is considered to have passed the pandemic stage.
Quarraisha Abdool Karim then began to conduct social and behavioral studies to understand the mechanisms of the spread of the epidemic, among women in particular. She works in particular to study the transmission of the virus according to gender, age and travel. In 1992, she published an article concluding that women are more vulnerable to HIV infection. During the 1990s, Quarraisha continued her studies on the spread of HIV, and wrote several articles.
CAPRISA 004
In 2007, the Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA – Center for AIDS Research in South Africa) is launching a clinical trial to test the effects of tenofovir gel, an antiretroviral agent, on HIV transmission. Quarraisha Abdool Karim is the instigator of this study, called CAPRISA 004.
The study demonstrates that the use of tenofovir gel reduces HIV transmission by 39%. These results were announced at the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna in 2010; they are greeted with a standing ovation .
Awards
Quarraisha Abdool Karim's important work on HIV transmission has earned him numerous awards. Decorated with the Order of Mapungubwe, the most prestigious distinction in South Africa, she received the TWAS-Lenovo scientific prize in 2014 and the L'Oréal – UNESCO “For Women in Science” prize in 2016.
When Quarraisha received the TWAS-Lenovo Science Award, the President of TWAS (Third World Academy of Sciences – Third World Academy of Sciences) says of her:
“We have great admiration and respect for the work of Dr. Abdool Karim. She has an exemplary record of high-impact science, and there is a deep humanity to her work. Just as important, she has helped to train hundreds of young African scientists who are expanding the research into HIV and tuberculosis. She really is a model scientist, and a tremendous inspiration to colleagues across the world. »
(We have great admiration and respect for the work of Dr. Abdool Karim. She has an exemplary track record of high-impact science and her work is imbued with a deep sense of humanity. Equally important, she has helped train hundreds young African scientists, who are expanding research on HIV and TB. She is a model scientist and a tremendous inspiration to her colleagues around the world.)