LSIPR 50 2018: Dreaming big to fight HIV
During her time as a paediatrician at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Glenda Gray was faced with an influx of HIV in young babies, infants and children. All the while, HIV was becoming more prominent in pregnant women. Gray recognised
an issue that needed addressing and, alongside James McIntyre, founded the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU).
Gray is also president of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). Her field and administration experience provided her with the knowledge to lead the best possible research response strategies in South Africa.
Gray’s experience as a medical doctor and paediatrician, and her involvement in clinical research, have provided her with a solid foundation to make a significant impact in improving the understanding of HIV in her country.
She says that being a medical doctor gives you an appreciation of a country’s health challenges. To make good decisions, she says, requires knowledge of what people are dying from.
Health priorities
“Our mandate is to fund and conduct research that changes the lives of South Africans, so understanding health priorities as seen in hospitals helps you steer the institution in a clear direction,” Gray says.
PHRU’s aim is to conduct adult, paediatric and adolescent HIV treatment and prevention research and investigations into tuberculosis and other HIV co-infections—when a person with HIV is suffering from a different disease at the same time. The
unit also carries out behavioural and social science research, alongside advocating for research
access.
Since its beginnings in 1996, the PHRU has been involved in clinical research, operational research and the implementation of its findings. Through its work, the unit has helped to decrease the number of HIV infections in children.
“We were in a position based on our clinical experience with antiretrovirals to support the treatment of HIV in adults and children, and with the assistance of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding, put 1,000 people on treatment in Soweto in nine months,” notes Gray.
