Track A: Basic science
Track B: Clinical science
Track C: Prevention science
Track D: Social, behavioural and implementation science
Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Malaysia
IAS 2021 International Co-Chair (IAS President)
Prof Adeeba Kamarulzaman of Malaysia became the first Asian President of IAS – the International AIDS Society – on 11 July 2020 when she began her two–year term. Prof Kamarulzaman is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Yale University, USA, and chairs the Malaysian AIDS Foundation, a trust that raises funds for HIV- related programmes. In 1997, Prof Kamarulzaman established the Infectious Diseases Unit at the University of Malaya Medical Centre and, in 2008, the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA) at the same university. As convener of the Malaysian Harm Reduction Working Group of the Malaysian AIDS Council, she successfully advocated for the implementation of harm reduction measures to tackle HIV among people who inject drugs in Malaysia. She was the President of the Malaysian AIDS Council from 2006 to 2010. In 2015, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by her alma mater, Monash University, Australia, for her contributions to medicine and as a health advocate.
Hendrik Streeck, Germany
IAS 2021 Local Co-Chair
Professor Hendrik Streeck is the Director of the Institute of Virology and Professor of HIV Research at the University of Bonn, Germany. He completed his medical training in Berlin in 2006 and received his PhD from Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Bonn in 2007. After completing his postdoctoral fellowship at the Partners AIDS Research Center, he was Assistant Professor at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and assistant immunologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2012, he was recruited as the Chief of the Cellular Immunology Section of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and adjunct Assistant Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. In March 2015, he took the chair of the Institute for HIV Research, but remains visiting scientist at the Military HIV Research Program on HIV vaccine and cure research. Currently, he leads the largest systematic study to understand the feasibility of conducting a Phase 3 HIV vaccine trial in Europe and to understand the epidemic of sexually transmitted infections. As a result of the study, the European HIV & STI prevention network was established in January 2019.
Sharon Lewin, Australia
IAS President-Elect
Professor Sharon Lewin is the inaugural director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, a joint venture between the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Royal Melbourne Hospital. She is Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Melbourne, a consultant physician at the Alfred Hospital and a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Practitioner Fellow in Melbourne. She is an infectious diseases physician and basic scientist. Her research focuses on understanding why HIV persists on treatment and developing clinical trials aimed at ultimately finding a cure for HIV infection. Professor Lewin is the Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Towards an HIV Cure Initiative led by IAS. She is also a member of the IAS Governing Council, representing the Asia Pacific region.
Birgit Poniatowski, Switzerland
IAS Executive Director
With more than 20 years of public health and international development experience, Birgit Poniatowski was appointed to the position of IAS Executive Director in November 2020, following more than five years at the organization leading an expanding team responsible for resource mobilization, sustainable partnerships across diverse sectors and key strategic initiatives. Prior to joining the IAS, she was the Director for Investment and Partnerships at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and earlier managed partnerships and supported the organization’s multi-stakeholder governance processes at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. She was educated at Bonn and Heidelberg Universities in Germany and International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She holds a PhD from Heidelberg University.
Cristina Mussini, Italy
IAS Regional Representative
Dr Cristina Mussini has been Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia since 2011. She is also the Director of the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico, in Modena, Italy. She received her degree in medicine and surgery at the University of Modena in 1987 and completed a specialization in infectious diseases in 1990. Dr Mussini has published more than 200 papers on index journals for a total of above 900, H-index 55 (Google Scholar). From 2009 to 2016, she was a member of the National AIDS Committee of the Italian Ministry of Health. Since 2000, she has been a member of the Governing Board of the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS). She is a member of the Scientific Committees for the EACS and Glasgow European Conferences and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Icona Cohort Study. She is Chair of the ESGIE, ESCMID study group for infections in the elderly. She has taught all over the world, including Turkey, Russia, Iran and Kenya. She organized the first EACS standard of care meeting in Rome to bring NGOs, political stakeholders and clinicians together to discuss HIV in Europe.
Joe Wong, Malaysia
International Community Representative
Joe Wong is a transmasculine advocate and was born in Singapore. As the Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN), he provides overall leadership and management. He was actively leading in the transgender HIV response well before he assumed his role at APTN in 2010. Joe was the driving force behind the Asia Pacific Trans Health Blueprint, a regional contextual map outlining key challenges, gaps and interventions for transgender people. He has written on and implemented best practices and continues to prove that there can be no real response to the advancement of trans sexual health and human rights without the presence, voices and contributions of transgender people.
Ricardo Fernandes, Portugal
Local/Regional Community Representative
Ricardo Fernandes has worked for several Portuguese NGOs in the field of HIV since 2000, mainly in project and services coordination. He has a degree in modern languages and literature from the University of Lisbon. He is the Executive Director of the Portuguese Group of Activists for HIV/AIDS Treatment (GAT) and is currently the Chair of the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG). He is also a co-organizer of several Portuguese conferences and co-author of studies and articles mainly on stigma, diagnosis and late presentation for HIV care.