Dr. Salim Abdool Karim is a South African clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist widely recognized for scientific and leadership contributions in AIDS and Covid-19.

Professor Abdool Karim is Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Durban, and CAPRISA Professor of Global Health at Columbia University, New York. He is an Adjunct Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard University, Boston, Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Cornell University, New York, and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. He previously served as President of the South African Medical Research Council.

He is a member of the Science Council of the World Health Organisation (WHO). He is a Vice-President of the International Science Council and Director of a Global Virus Network Centre of Excellence. He is a Commissioner of the African Union Commission on Covid-19.

Professor Abdool Karim was ranked among the world’s most highly cited scientists by Web of Science. He serves on the Boards of several prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Global Health and Lancet HIV. He is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society.