Quarraisha Abdool Karim

Quarraisha Abdool Karim (born 28 March 1960) is a South African epidemiologist, known for her many contributions to AIDS research. She is the Associate Scientific Director of the AIDS research center, CAPRISA, a professor in Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University,[3] and an honorary professor in Public Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.[4] Professor Abdool Karim is also a visiting scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and visiting lecturer at Harvard University.[5] She was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Johannesburg.[6] She is also the vice-president of the African Academy of Sciences and Foreign Associate Member of the Institute of Medicine (IoM) of the National Academies.[3][7]

Quarraisha Abdool Karim
Born (1960-03-28) 28 March 1960
NationalitySouth African
Alma materUniversity of Durban-Westville
University of the Witwatersrand
University of Natal
Columbia University
Known forCAPRISA 004 study[1]
AwardsOrder of Mapungubwe, L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards
Scientific career
FieldsEpidemiology, HIV, Microbicides
InstitutionsCAPRISA
Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Doctoral advisorHoosen Coovadia, Jack Moodley[2]

Karim's research is world-renowned, most notably with the CAPRISA 004 study,[3] where she was the principal investigator. Her work has been awarded on many occasions, including the Order of Mapungubwe (Bronze),[8] the highest honor in South Africa, and the prestigious L'Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Awards[9] for helping to combat HIV and improving the life of African women. Overall, including her HIV research and others, she has over 170 peer reviewed publications and several books and book chapters and she is an NRF A-rated researcher.[5]

Early life and education

Abdool Karim was born in Tongaat in South Africa in 1960. She attended Vishwaroop state-aided school, Victoria school, and Tongaat high school. She cites her grandmother and parents as some of her mentors, instilling in her a passion for knowledge.[10] In 1981, she graduated with a bachelor of science from the University of Durban-Westville. Abdool Karim then moved on to the University of Witwatersrand,[2] gaining a bachelor of science honours degree in Biochemistry.[11] For her master's degree, Abdool Karim moved to the United States, gaining her master's in Parasitology in 1988, from Columbia University. In 2000, she completed her PhD in Medicine from the University of Natal, in South Africa.[11]

HIV Research

In the 1990s, South Africa was gripped by an HIV epidemic. During this time, Abdool Karim began her socio-behavioural studies in relation to HIV, in South Africa.[12] She conducted population-based surveys, aiming to the understand the spread of the epidemic in women, as well as researching on additional factors such as gender, age, and migration. In 1992, Abdool Karim et al. published a paper, highlighting that women were more vulnerable to the HIV infection. The study also found a correlation between migration and HIV. This correlation was found to be particularly emphasized among men.[13] During the 1990s, Abdool Karim conducted numerous studies and wrote a handful of papers, studying the infection and highlighting the different groups who were more at risk to the disease.[12]

CAPRISA 004

In 2007, CAPRISA conducted a landmark clinical trial, named CAPRISA 004, and Abdool Karim was the principal investigator. The underlying aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Tenefovir gel in reducing the risk of HIV contraction. The CAPRISA 004 Tenofovir gel trial also resulted in a proof of concept for Microbicides.[3] Overall, the study demonstrated protection against the HIV infection, with a 39% reduction in infections.[14] Additionally, at the XVIII International AIDS Conference, 2010, the results of their CAPRISA 004 study led to a standing ovation, an uncommon occurrence at a scientific meeting.[15] In 2017, with other leaders from the project, Abdool Karim edited The CAPRISA Clinical Trials: HIV Treatment and Prevention.[16]


Since this project, Abdool Karim has continued to research and publish writing about HIV/AIDS in South Africa. She published the book HIV/AIDS in South Africa with her husband and research collaborator Salim 'Slim' Abdool Karim in 2005, with the second edition published in 2010.[17] In 2015, she co-edited the sixth edition of the Oxford Textbook of Global Public Health.[18] In 2017 she was appointed by the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) as the UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV.[19]


Leadership and working for equality

Outside of her research in HIV and AIDS, Abdool Karim has also worked to improve education and training for scientists in South Africa and served as an advocate for women in science. Through the Columbia University-Southern African Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Programme, Abdool Karim has worked to train over 600 scientists in the region since 1998.[20]

She has also spoken and given interviews explaining the difficulties associated with being a women in research as well as encouraging more young women to pursue the sciences.[21][10]

Awards and Honours

Abdool Karim has won many awards for her work on AIDS research. This includes the TWAS-Lenovo Science prize. Here, she became the first women recipient of that award, receiving the $100,000 prize.[22]

  • 2010: CAPRISA 004 Trials highlighted by Science as one of the Top 10 scientific breakthroughs of the year[5]
  • 2011: Olusegun Obasanjo Prize[23]
  • 2013: Order of Mapungubwe (Bronze)[8]
  • 2014: TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize[24]
  • 2014: SAMRC Scientific Merit Award (Gold)[25]
  • 2014: ASSAF Science-for-Society Award (Gold)[26]
  • 2015: eThekwini Living Legends Award[27]
  • 2016: L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science[9]
  • 2020: Canada Gairdner Global Health Award [28]

In 2017, the BBC named Abdool Karim as one of the seven trailblazing women in science.[29]

Personal life

Quarraisha Abdool Karim is married to the South African epidemiologist, Salim 'Slim' Abdool Karim, whom she sometimes collaborates with on research. She has three children.

Abdool Karim owns a house in Durban and also has an apartment in Manhattan.[2]

References
  1. Karim, Q.A.; Karim, S.S.A.; Frolich, J.A.; et al. (2010). "Effectiveness and Safety of Tenofovir Gel, an Antiretroviral Microbicide, for the Prevention of HIV Infection in Women". Science. 329 (5996): 1168–1174. Bibcode:2010Sci...329.1168A. doi:10.1126/science.1193748. JSTOR 40803050. PMC 3001187. PMID 20643915.
  2. "A Q&A with epidemiologist Quarraisha Abdool Karim". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  3. "Quarraisha Abdool Karim | Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health". www.mailman.columbia.edu. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  4. "UNAIDS Executive Director appoints Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim as a UNAIDS Special Ambassador". www.unaids.org. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  5. "Quarraisha Abdool Karim". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  6. "UJ honors pioneering HIV/Aids expert, Quarraisha Abdool Karim with an honorary doctoral degree | Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health". www.mailman.columbia.edu. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  7. "Brief Bio" (PDF).
  8. "Full List of National Order recipients". www.enca.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  9. "Laureates of the 2016 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science Awards". UNESCO. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  10. "A Q&A with epidemiologist Quarraisha Abdool Karim". www.ft.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  11. administrator (3 June 2016). "Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim". South African Medical Research Council. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  12. Mandisa., Mbali (2013). South African AIDS activism and global health politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137312167. OCLC 833159928.
  13. Abdool Karim, Q.; Abdool Karim, S. S.; Singh, B.; Short, R.; Ngxongo, S. (December 1992). "Seroprevalence of HIV infection in rural South Africa". AIDS. 6 (12): 1535–1539. doi:10.1097/00002030-199212000-00018. ISSN 0269-9370. PMID 1492937.
  14. Karim, Quarraisha Abdool; Karim, Salim S. Abdool; Frohlich, Janet A.; Grobler, Anneke C.; Baxter, Cheryl; Mansoor, Leila E.; Kharsany, Ayesha B. M.; Sibeko, Sengeziwe; Mlisana, Koleka P. (3 September 2010). "Effectiveness and Safety of Tenofovir Gel, an Antiretroviral Microbicide, for the Prevention of HIV Infection in Women". Science. 329 (5996): 1168–1174. Bibcode:2010Sci...329.1168A. doi:10.1126/science.1193748. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 3001187. PMID 20643915.
  15. UKZN. "CAPRISA Trial Scoops USAID Award Breakthrough Microbicide Gel Prevents HIV and Herpes in Women" Archived 29 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 31 January 2014. Retrieved on 23 August 2014.
  16. Karim, Quarraisha Abdool; Karim, Salim S. Abdool; Baxter, Cheryl (20 January 2017). The CAPRISA Clinical Trials: HIV Treatment and Prevention. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-47518-9.
  17. Karim, S. S. Abdool; Karim, Q. Abdool (17 June 2010). HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-48793-1.
  18. Detels, Roger; Tan, Chorh Chuan (2017). Oxford Textbook of Global Public Health. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-881013-1.
  19. "UNAIDS SPECIAL AMBASSADOR FOR ADOLESCENTS AND HIV" (PDF).
  20. "UJ honors pioneering HIV/Aids expert, Quarraisha Abdool Karim with an honorary doctoral degree | Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health". www.mailman.columbia.edu. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  21. "Promoting women's leadership in science and health". www.unaids.org. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  22. Norling, Linda (28 October 2014). "The South African HIV scientist who gave girls back control of their bodies". Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  23. "The Olusegun Obasanjo Prize". African Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  24. "TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize". TWAS. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  25. administrator (28 November 2017). "SAMRC Scientific Merit Awards". South African Medical Research Council. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  26. User, Super. "ASSAf Science-for-Society Gold Medals". www.assaf.org.za. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  27. "EThekwini Municipality Honours its Living Legends". CAPRISA | Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  28. Canada Gairdner Global Health Award 2020
  29. "Seven trailblazing women in science". BBC News. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
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