Doctor makes parents proud
SAFURA Abdool Karim, 31, daughter of renowned academics and scientists Professors Quarraisha Abdool Karim and Salim Abdool Karim, recently graduated with a doctorate in law from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Born and raised in Durban, Abdool Karim now lives in Johannesburg with her fiancé, Ivo Peres.
She matriculated from Durban Girls’ College in 2009.
“In 2010, I began my LLB at UCT which I completed in 2013. I went on to do my articles at a corporate law firm, Bowmans, and I was an associate there for a short time. In mid-2016, I then went to Georgetown University in Washington, DC where I did my LLM in Global Health Law.
“When I came back in 2017, I started the process for my PhD.”
She is now a practising attorney. She said she was influenced by her parents.
“Both my parents are academics and have received a number of honorary doctorates from various institutions in South Africa and internationally.
“My mom has actually received more honorary doctorates than my father – one of the many reasons I consider her to be an amazing role model for myself and other young women.
“Both of my parents work closely together – with much of the recognition they receive related to their pioneering work in preventing HIV in young women and adolescents.”
Abdool Karim said law can transform people’s lives and this is why she pursued it.
“When I was younger, my mom was an expert witness in the Treatment Action Campaign case about giving pregnant women access to nevirapine, which is medication used to treat and prevent HIV/Aids.
“Her involvement in the case showed me how, even when we have the right medicines or doctors, these things may not reach the people who need them.
“This sparked a passion in me to use law as a tool to improve health in the same way doctors might use medicines.
“My family have been cheering me on throughout this journey.
“We are a family of public health enthusiasts – both of my parents are epidemiologists, who focus on infectious diseases, and my two siblings also work in health-related spaces.”
She detailed her future plans. “At the moment, I’m a newly minted advocate at the Bridge Group of Advocates in Sandton and I also work as a researcher at the School of Public Health at UWC.
“A PhD is really the first step in an academic career – it represents the final piece of formal training one can get before one begins to work as a fully-fledged academic. My hope is that I am able to continue to blend academia with practice. Later this year, I will take up a post-doctoral fellowship at John Hopkins University and Oxford University.”
Quarraisha Abdool Karim is the co-founder and associate scientific director of Caprisa, professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University, pro-vice chancellor of African Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal as well as the UNAids Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV, among other titles.
Her contributions on HIV transmission and prevention in Africa provided the first evidence for antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a new HIV prevention technology and the only biological prevention method for genital herpes.
She said her daughter’s academic success made her proud.
“In addition to her PhD, she has over 40 peer-reviewed publications, sits on pivotal advisory boards, is an accomplished lawyer and advocate, and is making her own mark in leaving the world a better place through excellence and tackling challenges facing us on the continent and globally.
“For a 31 year old, she has achieved a lot through hard work, persistence, perseverance and passion for what she does.”