Organization: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
Region: Africa
Nationality: Ghana
Country: Ghana
Interests & expertise: Co-infections (TB, hepatitis, STIs, etc.)
Profession or occupation: Researcher
What inspires you to work in the HIV field?
The hope for an HIV cure inspires me. I have seen HIV transformed into a manageable chronic illness with the advent and scale up of antiretroviral drugs and therapy. I have admired the scientists who have dedicated their entire careers and lives to the different aspects of HIV research, including basic science, vaccine development and HIV cure.
With recent advances in the field, I am optimistic that sooner rather than later, we will find a cure for HIV if we do not give up the search. This is my daily inspiration: “A cure for HIV is possible and closer now more than ever before.” I commit to deploying my expertise to the search so I can be a part of the success story of an HIV cure soon.
What are your goals as an IAS change maker?
As an HIV researcher, I have four main goals:
- Generate data on the effectiveness of treatment regimens, drug resistance and factors that contribute to long-term viral suppression to guide optimum drug selection and maximize the benefits of antiretroviral therapy to people living with HIV anywhere in the world.
- Determine the virus-host interactions that drive disease progression, response to therapy and persistence of the latent reservoir to explore the use of host proteins for therapeutic strategies.
- Screen and identify chemical compounds or herbal products that have the ability to cure HIV by drastically reducing viral replication, reactivating latent cells or inducing latency permanently.
- Make every effective intervention for HIV (preventive or therapeutic) affordable and accessible to all regions, especially Africa, which has the highest HIV burden.