Women in the public sector

The head of the South African Medical Research Council, Professor Glenda Gray, is an internationally recognised leader in global health

TIME Magazine this year added South African-born Professor Glenda Gray to the 2017 TIME 100 list, an annual selection of the 100 most influential people in the world.

This international acclaim follows a string of other accolades including one of the highest orders in South Africa, the Order of Mapungubwe, bestowed on Gray.

Her story is one of dedication, commitment and passion to address health issues that have and still affect South Africans. In 1996, together with James McIntyre, she cofounded the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU) based in Soweto where they developed a world-renowned unit focused on HIV prevention and treatment.

She graduated in 1986 as a medical doctor from the University of Witwatersrand and in 1992 qualified as a paediatrician from the College of Medicine South Africa.

Internationally acclaimed for her work in HIV research, Gray has broken new boundaries, redefined scientific excellence and pioneered ground-breaking medical research that has shaped global communities and saved lives.

Currently head of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), the country's premier medical research institution, Gray remains driven by ambition, a sheer sense of competitiveness and an evident passion for people. She will lead the SAMRC for a five-year tenure, which commenced in April 2014.

In 2002, when pregnant HIV-infected women were denied the antiretroviral drugs that would prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies, Gray and McIntyre were awarded the Nelson

“When we measure our scientific productivity,

we have an idea of our country's economic wealth and human development. The potential of science to progress the socio-economic

context of a country is limitless.”

Mandela Health and Human Rights Award for their work in response to the challenge.

Globally the medical community took note of their work and, in 2003, in recognition for their research and advocacy done to bring lifesaving antiretroviral therapy to mothers and people in need, Gray and McIntyre received the Heroes in Medicine award from the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care.

“When you give a child an opportunity to grow up, free of ill-health, you give them hope to define a destiny of their own,” says Gray recalling how HIV took from South African mothers the joy of seeing their children grow up.

In 2013 President Jacob Zuma bestowed on her one of the highest orders in South Africa, the Order of Mapungubwe, for her life-saving research in mother-tochild transmission of HIV that changed the lives of so many mothers and their children.

Since then Gray has been on a trajectory that has led her to become an internationally recognised leader in global health.

Leading the SAMRC

“The South African Medical Research Council is a national asset that is globally known for its strategic impetus to respond to our country's disease burden,” says Gray.

“Our team of internationally acclaimed scientists and investigators are pioneering, and understand the gravitas of their duty to the people of South Africa.”

Gray is a dynamic leader who has set clear strategic agendas. She says the key strategic deliverables she is determined to achieve are to: train the next generation of scientists, and transform the cadre to reflect that of the country, direct research funding to historically underresourced universities in the country, implement a programme to transform the organisation, and invest resources in growing the required critical mass of medical scientists to sustain the production of cutting-edge medical science to respond to the country's disease burden.

The SAMRC's 2017/18 Annual Performance Plan's targets for the year are to: achieve a fifth consecutive clean audit, increase the annual audited number of published journal articles from 500 to 700, spend only 20 per cent of the organisational budget on administrative support costs, increase the number of annual research grants from 120 to 168, and congratulate an estimated 55 postdoctoral students on completing their research in the financial period. Generating this research contributes to the knowledge economy of the country.

“When we measure our scientific productivity, we have an idea of our country's economic wealth and human development.The potential of science to progress the socio-economic context of a country is limitless, so we need to invest our funds in our core business,” says Gray.

Gray's leadership has transformed the investment streams in medical research in a constricted economic climate. As a public entity that relies on baseline funding from the National Department of Health and income streams from funders, the SAMRC's focus from 2018/19 to 2019/20 will be on implementing costcontainment measures while maintaining current research-funding commitments.

For 2017/18 funds have been allocated as follows: core research (R603 million); innovation and technology (R190 million); and capacity development (R58 million).

New strategies, introduced since the start of Gray's tenure in 2014, have delivered laudable results of redress. In 2012 funding for the largest section of grants was awarded as follows: 72 per cent white, 11 per cent Indian, 11 per cent African and five per cent coloured.

“We are transforming the way funds for research are being distributed by simply being committed to a transformed organisation. In 2015 our figures revealed that funding for our largest section of grants were awarded as follows: African 27 per cent, coloured 27per cent, Indian 12per cent and white 34 per cent”, said Gray.

Working for an AIDS-free generation

In the mid- 2000s Gray saw that the only path to an AIDS-free generation would be the development of

potent biomedical interventions. She turned her attention to HIV vaccine research, believing it was critical to ending the HIV epidemic, and focused her research on investigating potential HIV vaccine candidates.

As the Co-Principal Investigator (PI) of the National Institutes of Health-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), an international network that conducts over 80 per cent of the clinical trials of candidate HIV vaccines globally, she provides leadership at global level with the HVTN PI, Larry Corey, and Co-PI, Scott Hammer.

Most notably, she spearheaded the clinical development of the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative's HIV vaccines, the SAAVI DNA/MVA candidates, and conducted the first trial using these candidate vaccines in South Africa and the United States. In November 2016, an ambitious programme was announced to evaluate an HIV vaccine regimen in South Africa that, if successful, could be the first HIV vaccine to be licensed globally. Gray and her team are leading this trial, HVTN 702, the first HIV vaccine efficacy trial in seven years.

Gray also chairs the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) to lead research collaborations on chronic diseases worldwide. GACD is a collection of the world's largest public health researchfunding agencies, which fund joint programmes targeting lifestyle-related or chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, certain cancers, lung diseases and mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries. It is the first collaboration of major research funding agencies to specifically address chronic non-communicable diseases.

“This position is about more than just influencing the global research and development agenda for noncommunicable diseases. We are at a juncture when our decisions will determine the extent to which we can take non-communicable disease interventions to scale,” says Gray. “Ultimately each intervention must introduce resolve and change lives.”

A global medical research trailblazer, results-driven leader investing her time intellect and passion into changing the lives of people, Gray is recognised as a global icon who draws admiration but also sparks inspiration in others.