COVID-19 Conversations with LINDA GAIL BEKKER

This week we speak to Linda-Gail Bekker, MBChB, DTMH, DCH, FCP (SA), Ph.D., is Deputy Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town and Chief Operating Officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. She is a physician-scientist and infectious disease specialist. Her research interests include programmatic and action research around antiretroviral rollout and TB integration, HIV prevention in women, youth, and men who have sex with men. She is PI of the National Institute of Health NIH (USA) funded the University of CapeTown Clinical Trials Unit (UCTCTU.)

She remains actively involved in the four associated clinical research sites and four DAIDS networks. In particular, she has chaired protocols for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and HIV Prevention Network (HPTN) and has been IoR in several network-related protocols. She has served on numerous international and federal scientific and working committees.

She heads up the Desmond Tutu Centre of Adolescent Health and Wellbeing at UCT. This consortium aims to develop best practices and evidence base around adolescent treatment and prevention of HIV, TB, and STIs and the integration of these services within a robust adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive service platform. She is the immediate past president of the International AIDS Society and served as the International Co-Chair of the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science in Paris in July 2017 and International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam in 2018.