Top virologist guest of honour at HIV convention

RENOWNED HIV virologist Professor Ravi Gupta will be the guest of honour at the Bio Africa convention, to be held in KwaZulu-Natal in August.

Gupta has made international headlines in recent weeks and is at the centre of arguably the biggest advance against HIV in a decade.

Last month, Gupta – from University College London – presented ground-breaking research in the search for a potential cure of HIV after stem cell transplantation in his patient, known as the “London patient”.

The “London patient” is now the longest-living adult with HIV remission after a bone marrow transplant to treat cancer since 2008 when Timothy Brown, a patient in Berlin, made global headlines when scientists announced that he had been cured of HIV. The Bio Africa Convention will be held from August 26 to 28 and showcases Africa’s biotechnology innovations in the health, agriculture and industrial sectors. Bio Africa will bring business leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers, regulatory authorities and policy makers under one roof.

This event has been endorsed by the Department of Science and Technology. This platform aims to reach the broader biotech community of Africa for the commercialisation of local innovations. Biotechnology is impacting most strongly on food security and health care with the development of drought-tolerant crops and vaccines for HIV and other viral agents.

For enquiries call Phemelo Motene at 071 706 1760.