iUIS 2023 Keynote Speakers
Keynote Lectures are the cornerstones of IUIS 2023. Twice a day, all delegates have the opportunity to hear two preeminent scientists present on their topic of expertise.
Biography
Coming soon.
Biography
Emmanuelle Charpentier was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 for her joint work with Jennifer Doudna on the development of a method for genome editing. This technology, known as CRISPR-Cas, is revolutionizing research in the life sciences. CRISPR-Cas has opened entirely new possibilities in biotechnology and biomedical gene therapies that have an impact on society and humanity. Charpentier is Scientific and Managing Director at the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin. Charpentier has devoted most of her scientific career to understanding the fundamental mechanisms of diseases, with a particular interest in infections caused by Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria, staphylococci and streptococci.
Biography
Prof Linda-Gail Bekker is the Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town and Chief Executive Officer of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation. She is an NRF A-rated physician scientist and infectious disease specialist. Her research interests include programmatic and action research around antiretroviral roll out and TB integration, prevention of HIV in women, youth and MSM. She has led numerous investigator-driven studies in HIV treatment, prevention and tuberculosis. Bekker is involved in a number of COVID19 vaccine trials and co-leads the Sisonke Phase 3B study which has seen the vaccination of 500 000 health care workers in South Africa. She is a past president of the International AIDS Society (2016-2018) and served as the International Co-Chair of the 9th IAS Conference, the 22nd International AIDS Conference, and the 2021 Research 4 Prevention Conference.
Biography
Vishva M. Dixit is Vice President of Research at Genentech. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS). He also serves on the medical advisory board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Gates Foundation Discovery Experts Group.
Dixit’s achievements in cell death research are detailed in Nature (2008, 453:271-273), Nature Cell Biology (2010, 12(5):415), Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (2013, 34(11):596-598) and Cell Death & Differentiation (2019, 26:597-604). These accounts highlight the pervasive excitement in the heydays of apoptosis research and his foundational contributions.
Biography
Alain Fischer obtained his medical degree (pediatrics) in 1979, he became professor of immunology at Paris Descartes University, then in 1991 director of an INSERM unit “Normal and pathological development of the immune system”. He was head of the “Pediatric Immunology and Hematology” unit (UIH) at the Necker Hospital (AP-HP) from 1996 to 2012. In November 2002, he was elected full member of the Academy of Sciences and in 2011 of the Academy of Medicine. He was the co-founding of the Imagine Institute for Genetic Diseases and its director (2007-2016). Alain Fischer was elected as an international member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine in 2017 and of the U.S. Academy of Sciences in 2019. Alain Fischer is an emeritus professor at the Collège de France, Chair of Experimental Medicine. His work has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Jeantet Prize (2001), the INSERM Grand Prix (2008), the Robert Koch Prize (2014), the Japan Prize (2015). Alain Fischer’s work has been devoted to the study of the human immune system through the characterization of numerous genetic defects and the understanding of their physiopathology. He developed gene therapy since 1999.
Biography
An NRF A1 rated scientist, CEO and President of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Professor Glenda Gray is a qualified pediatrician and co-founder of the internationally recognised Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto, South Africa. Prior to her appointment at the SAMRC, she was the Executive Director of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit, an affiliate of Wits University. Glenda’s global profile includes a role as Co-PI of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), an international collaboration for the development of HIV/AIDS prevention vaccines.
As the COVID-19 pandemic developed, she was among the first to lead public discourse on the issue, and to move quickly to establish COVID-19 vaccine trials in South Africa, utilizing the experience and network developed over the years for the HIV vaccine work. Glenda served as a Protocol Co-Chair of the multi-country Ensemble Study investigating the single-dose Ad26.COV2.S vaccine as an emergency response intervention. When South Africa’s national vaccine roll-out faltered, her international stature enabled her to negotiate a donation of 500 000 doses of the Ad26.CoV.2 vaccine before any emergency use authorization was available and conduct a phase 3B open-label study in health care workers, called the Sisonke Study.
She received South Africa’s highest honour – the Order of Mapungubwe – for her pioneering research in PMTCT. Other prestigious accolades include the Nelson Mandela Health and Human Rights Award for significant contributions in the field of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Selected as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, Forbes top 50 women in Africa, honorary degrees include: DSc (honoris causa Simon Fraser University), DSc (honoris causa Stellenbosch University), and LLD (honoris causa Rhodes University). She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the Academy of Science of South Africa, the African Academy of Science and the World Academy of Science. She is fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. She is a member of the board of GARDP, AAHI and a member of the WHO TB-STAG.
