Advancing HIV care for mothers and newborns: Exploring long-acting solutions

Deborah Persaud is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where she serves as the Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases for the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. She also holds joint appointments in the Departments of International Health and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Persaud is renowned for her work in the field of HIV-1 reservoirs and cure therapeutics for children with HIV. and for her report on the case of the "Mississippi' baby. She the scientific chair of the HIV cure Scientific Committee for the International
Maternal, Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) group. And the contact Principal Investigator for PAVE Martin Delaney Collaboratory.

Kathryn Kersey is an Executive Director in Clinical Development at Gilead Sciences, leading the company’s pediatric virology development programs. Since joining Gilead in 2012, Kathryn has been involved in bringing Gilead’s novel medicines for hepatitis C and COVID-19 as well as HIV to children and adolescents. 

Lionel Tan is physician-scientist who is currently the Medicine Development Lead for Paediatric HIV at ViiV Healthcare with oversight over the paediatric R&D portfolio.  Lionel joined ViiV Healthcare in 2020 from Global Health at GSK where he had led the clinical programme for the anti-malarial drug, tafenoquine, resulting in the first regulatory approval for an age-appropriate paediatric formulation for Plasmodium vivax malaria.  Lionel has also worked on drug development for visceral leishmaniasis and early phase and late phase antibacterial compounds. Early in his career at GSK, Lionel undertook a part-time secondment in Clinical Pharmacology with a focus on paediatrics and developed his passion for paediatric drug development. He co-chairs the Medicine for Children Advisory Network within GSK and the ViiV Paediatric Advisory Group within ViiV Healthcare.  He is also the GSK representative on the network committee and project steering committee of Conect4children (c4c), an Innovative Health Initiative project aimed at establishing a paediatric clinical trial network in Europe.  

Prior to joining GSK in 2016, Lionel was a Clinical Academic and a Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at Imperial College London with a specific interest in bacterial infections. He did his undergraduate medical training at the University of Cambridge and Barts and the Royal London Hospital Medical School, and has a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He has a PhD in Molecular Microbiology from the Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection at Imperial College London for his work on meningococcal vaccines .    He did his Specialist Infectious Diseases training in London including time at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital focused on HIV.  He also worked for a year as a Lecturer in Medicine in Mbarara University Teaching Hospital in Uganda.  Lionel is currently based in London, UK.

Dr. Ramgopal is Midway Immunology and Research Center's founder and medical director. He is also the founder and chairman of Midway Specialty Care Center located in South Florida and Georgetown, Guyana. Additionally, Dr. Ramgopal is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Florida State University and serves as an HIV consultant for the Turks and Caicos Islands Ministry of Health. Dr. Ramgopal is Board Certified and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Chloe Orkin is Professor of Infection and Inequities at Queen Mary University of London, Consultant Physician and Clinical Lead for HIV studies at Barts Health NHS Trust, Past Chair of the British HIV Association, Immediate Past President of the Medical Women’s Federation, and a member of the IAS governing council. She is a scientific advisor to WHO Europe on COVID-19 and Mpox and a scientific advisor to the Medicines Patent Pool. 

Lobna Gaayeb is the Head of Scientific and Medical Affairs at the Medicines Patent Pool Foundation, overseeing the selection and monitoring of in-licensing medicine efforts. Since joining in 2019, she has focused on licensing long-acting health technologies and established the LAPaL database for these innovations. With previous roles at Institut Pasteur managing the MediLabSecure network and experience in infectious disease research, Lobna applies her expertise in veterinary science, clinical research, and public health to improve global health initiatives. She holds a Master's in Biology and a Ph.D. in Clinical Research, Technological Innovation, and Public Health. She speaks five languages, leveraging her linguistic skills and cultural understanding in her work.

Dr Kumarasamy is a member of the PSC for D2EFT and a lead recruiting site for the study

Mo Archary is a Professor in the Paediatric Infectious Disease at King Edward VIII Hospital and affiliated to the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI). He is the vice chair of the treatment scientific committee in IMPAACT, member of the Paediatric Antiretroviral Working Group in WHO and chair of the paediatric and adolescent committee in SAHIVCSoc. His research interests include antiretroviral drug therapeutics and evaluation of complex interventions to improve the outcomes of children and adolescents with HIV. 

Dr. Natella Rakhmanina is a Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University and serves as a Director of the HIV Program at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA.  Dr. Rakhmanina obtained her MD degree at People’s Friendship University in Moscow, Russia, and her PhD degree in clinical pharmacology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.  For more than 20 years she has been providing care to HIV-infected and HIV-exposed infants, children and adolescents.  She is certified in HIV medicine and is a successful clinical researcher, focusing on the treatment and prevention of HIV in children and adolescents and serving as a principal investigator of NIH, CDC and industry funded pediatric and adolescent HIV studies.  Dr. Rakhmanina is also a Senior Technical Advisor at Elizabeth Glaser Pediatrics AIDS Foundation leading several projects on pediatric and adolescent HIV treatment in Sub-Saharan African countries.  Dr. Rakhmanina is a Chair of the Committee on Pediatric AIDS at the American Academy of Pediatrics, member of the US Department of Health and Human Services Panel on the Pediatric Antiretroviral Therapy and Management Guidelines at the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council in National Institutes of Health, member of the Pediatric Advisory Working Group at the World Health Organization, and a Regent of the Board and Chair of the Bylaws and Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity committees at the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.