Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, Physician Scientist and Infectious Disease Specialist, Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine
Linda-Gail Bekker, MBChB, DTMH, DCH, FCP (SA), PhD, 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 roll out and TB integration, prevention of HIV in women, youth and men who have sex with men. She is PI of the NIH (USA) funded UCTCTU and remains actively involved in the work of the four associated clinical research sites and four DAIDS networks. In particular, she has chaired protocols for the HVTN and HPTN and has been IoR in a number of 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 and the aim of this consortium is to develop best practices and evidence base around adolescent treatment and prevention of HIV, TB and STIs as well as 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.