Four facts about South Africa’s Quarraisha Abdool Karim, the first woman to head The World Academy of Sciences

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, a South African scientist, infectious disease epidemiologist, and world-leading AIDS researcher, recently became the newly elected President of The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (UNESCO-TWAS).

Abdool Karim made history as the first woman to head the organization founded in 1983 to support research, education, policy, and diplomacy.

She succeeded Sudanese mathematician Professor Mohamed Hassan and will serve as president from 2023 until 2026. “It is a real honor and privilege to be elected as President of TWAS,” Abdool Karim said in a statement released by TWAS. “And to have the opportunity to build on the strong foundations established over four decades by my predecessors in realizing the aspirational vision of the founder, Nobel laureate Abdus Salam, on the use of science to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in the developing world.”

The South African professor is currently the Chair of the South African National Aids Council Prevention Technical Task Team and a member of the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel. She is also a Scientific Advisor to the Executive Director of UNAIDS, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Chair of the PEPFAR Adolescent Girls and Young Women Expert Working Group. Here are other facts about the world-leading AIDS researcher: