TOP POST FOR DURBAN SCIENTIST
PROFESSOR Quarraisha Abdool
Karim was appointed to lead a high-level committee of 10 global experts to guide the UN on ways of harnessing science, technology and innovation.
UN secretary-general António Guterres hand-picked Abdool Karim, after extensive screenings, to co-chair the group for the next two years.
Her fellow committee members are from the US, Japan, Kenya,
India, Austria, Brazil, China, Latvia and Mexico, all with international recognition for their expertise in civil society, the private sector and scientific community.
Guterres said they would support the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism through their expertise and understanding of international processes related to science, technology, innovation expedite advancements with Sustainable Development Goals.
“The team will closely work with stakeholder groups, including businesses, youth and the academic and research community, with the first meeting planned for later this month,” he said.
Guterres said the Technology Facilitation Mechanism was created to support the implementation of SDGS by facilitating partnerships, collaborations and sharing of best practices on using science and technology for sustainable development.
Bongiwe Ntuli, board chairperson for the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa), congratulated Abdool Karim on her appointment.
“It positions the country as an integral partner on the UN global agenda on science, innovation, and technology development.”
Abdool Karim has cultivated a career spanning three decades as an infectious epidemiologist, beginning at the University of Kwazulu-natal, where she met her husband Professor Salim Abdool Karim.
She gained international recognition for her work with HIV where she has focused on preventing HIV infection in adolescent girls and young women.
It led to her landmark study, the tenofovir gel Caprisa 004 trial, which demonstrated for the first time that anti-retrovirals can prevent HIV infection.
She is an infectious diseases epidemiologist, professor in clinical epidemiology at Columbia University, pro-vice chancellor for African health at the University of Kwazulu-natal, and Unaids special ambassador for adolescents and HIV.