Our Invited Speakers:
— Professor Glenda Elisabeth Gray is a NRF A1-rated scientist and Distinguished Professor, former CEO and President of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), and Director of Infectious Diseases and Oncology Research Institute (IDORI) Research Entity in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand Professor Glenda Gray is a qualified pediatrician and co-founder of the internationally recognized Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto, South Africa. Prior to her appointment at the SAMRC, she was the Executive Director of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit, an affiliate of Wits University. Glenda Elisabeth Gray’s global profile includes a role as Co-PI of the NIH funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), a transnational collaboration for the development of HIV/AIDS prevention vaccines. She the Chairperson of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, USA, the World Academy of Sciences, the African Academy of Science and the South African Academy of Science. She received South Africa’s highest honour ─ the Order of Mapungubwe ─ for her pioneering research in PMTCT. Other prestigious accolades include the Nelson Mandela Health and Human Rights Award for significant contributions in the field of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Selected as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, and recently the Forbes Africa Champion of Change Award, Glenda is a recognized leader in her field. Her qualifications include an MBBCH, FCPaeds (SA), DSc (honoris causa SFU), DSc (honoris causa SUN), LL.D (Rhodes).
— Professor Kevin Behrens is Professor of Bioethics and Director of the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand. Kevin’s research interests lie in applied ethics - in particular, bioethics and environmental ethics. A major emphasis in his work is on applying African moral philosophical notions to ethical questions. He has published widely in international and national journals. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of the African Journal of Business Ethics. He holds a B2 rating as an internationally acclaimed researcher from the National Research Foundation. Kevinpreviously served on the Research Ethics Committee of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. He was on the organising committee of the Global Forum on Bioethics in Research held in Malaysia in 2024.He chairs the Hosting Committee of the 18th World Congress of Bioethics to be held in Johannesburg in 2026. He is a member of the Board of the International Association of Bioethics.
— Professor Lynn Morris is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Wits and completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford in 1988. Lynn is the founding Director of the Antibody Immunity Research Unit (AIRU) based at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) where she also served as the Interim Executive Director. Over the last 30 years she has made significant contributions to the understanding of the antibody response to HIV infection and vaccination. Lynn is an NRF A-rated scientist (international leader), has published over 274 papers holding an H-Index of 68 and featured in the Web of Science list of highly cited researchers for 5 consecutive years (2015-2019). She is a member of Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), the Royal Society of South Africa (FRSSA) and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).
— Professor Ziyaad Dangor is the clinical research director at the world-renowned Medical Research Council, Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA). He is a paediatric pulmonologist at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Heath.
He has undertaken investigator-initiated, original research using a range of clinical, epidemiological and laboratory-based research techniques to establish a successful research output, including the publication of cited papers in high-impact factor journals in the field. For a complete list of published work, visit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1tsJ8pHeTx1AO/bibliography/public/.
Prof Dangor is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching at the University of Witwatersrand. He is the past president of the South African Paediatric Association, and an examiner in the College of Paediatricians of South Africa. He is also an instructor with the Advanced Paediatric Life Support Group.
