AIDS 2026: Co-Chairs' Choice

Draurio Barreira is a public health physician and epidemiologist. He graduated from the Fluminense Federal University in 1987 and has postgraduate degrees in collective health from the State University of Rio de Janeiro and in epidemiology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the University of South Florida. Barreira was the first manager of the STI/AIDS Program in the city of Rio de Janeiro in the 1990s and the head of the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of the former National STI/AIDS Program and Coordinator of the National Tuberculosis Control Program, both at Brazil’s Ministry of Health. Since 2015, he has served as Senior Technical Manager at Unitaid, the health innovation agency of the World Health Organization in Geneva. He is currently the Director of the Department of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections of the Health and Environment Surveillance Secretariat at the Ministry of Health. 

Beatriz Grinsztejn is an infectious diseases physician and researcher at the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. She is the Director of the STD/AIDS Clinical Research Laboratory and principal investigator of the FIOCRUZ HIV Prevention and Therapeutic Clinical Trials Unit. The unit is affiliated with the HIV Prevention Trials Network, the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the ANRS, and implements prevention and therapeutic clinical trials and cohort studies. She is the Brazilian principal investigator for the Caribbean, Central and South America network for HIV epidemiology of the International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS. Beatriz is a member of the Brazilian Ministry of Health ART and PrEP Advisory Committees, PAHO Technical Advisory Committee and PrEP Task Force, and the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel. She is a faculty member of the Master’s and PhD programme on clinical research in infectious diseases at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.

Dr. Claudia Cortés is a Professor at the University of Chile and a specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases, with more than 20 years of experience in HIV care, research and education. She works at Fundación Arriarán, Chile’s first and largest HIV treatment centre. She has trained and mentored undergraduate students, medical residents, infectious diseases fellows and doctoral candidates, and has held leadership roles within the Chilean Infectious Diseases Society, including Chair of its HIV Committee and Vice-President.

A longstanding consultant to the Chilean Ministry of Health, Dr. Cortés has contributed to national guidelines and policies on HIV prevention, testing and treatment, as well as COVID-19 management. She is the Chilean principal investigator in the CCASAnet HIV epidemiology network, with research interests spanning women’s health, migration, HIV coinfections, the microbiome and chronic inflammation. She has co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has served on the International AIDS Society Governing Council since 2020.

Draurio Barreira is a public health physician and epidemiologist. He graduated from the Fluminense Federal University in 1987 and has postgraduate degrees in collective health from the State University of Rio de Janeiro and in epidemiology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the University of South Florida. Barreira was the first manager of the STI/AIDS Program in the city of Rio de Janeiro in the 1990s and the head of the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of the former National STI/AIDS Program and Coordinator of the National Tuberculosis Control Program, both at Brazil’s Ministry of Health. Since 2015, he has served as Senior Technical Manager at Unitaid, the health innovation agency of the World Health Organization in Geneva. He is currently the Director of the Department of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections of the Health and Environment Surveillance Secretariat at the Ministry of Health. 

Beatriz Grinsztejn is an infectious diseases physician and researcher at the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. She is the Director of the STD/AIDS Clinical Research Laboratory and principal investigator of the FIOCRUZ HIV Prevention and Therapeutic Clinical Trials Unit. The unit is affiliated with the HIV Prevention Trials Network, the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the ANRS, and implements prevention and therapeutic clinical trials and cohort studies. She is the Brazilian principal investigator for the Caribbean, Central and South America network for HIV epidemiology of the International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS. Beatriz is a member of the Brazilian Ministry of Health ART and PrEP Advisory Committees, PAHO Technical Advisory Committee and PrEP Task Force, and the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel. She is a faculty member of the Master’s and PhD programme on clinical research in infectious diseases at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.

Dr. Claudia Cortés is a Professor at the University of Chile and a specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases, with more than 20 years of experience in HIV care, research and education. She works at Fundación Arriarán, Chile’s first and largest HIV treatment centre. She has trained and mentored undergraduate students, medical residents, infectious diseases fellows and doctoral candidates, and has held leadership roles within the Chilean Infectious Diseases Society, including Chair of its HIV Committee and Vice-President.

A longstanding consultant to the Chilean Ministry of Health, Dr. Cortés has contributed to national guidelines and policies on HIV prevention, testing and treatment, as well as COVID-19 management. She is the Chilean principal investigator in the CCASAnet HIV epidemiology network, with research interests spanning women’s health, migration, HIV coinfections, the microbiome and chronic inflammation. She has co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has served on the International AIDS Society Governing Council since 2020.

Elise Lankiewicz is a Senior Policy Associate at amfAR, working across global HIV research, policy, and advocacy. 

Mutsa Bwakura Dangarembizi is an academic paediatrician whose research focuses on paediatric HIV, malnutrition and child health with an emphasis on optimising treatment outcomes through clinical trials and implementation research in resource-limited settings.

Draurio Barreira is a public health physician and epidemiologist. He graduated from the Fluminense Federal University in 1987 and has postgraduate degrees in collective health from the State University of Rio de Janeiro and in epidemiology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the University of South Florida. Barreira was the first manager of the STI/AIDS Program in the city of Rio de Janeiro in the 1990s and the head of the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of the former National STI/AIDS Program and Coordinator of the National Tuberculosis Control Program, both at Brazil’s Ministry of Health. Since 2015, he has served as Senior Technical Manager at Unitaid, the health innovation agency of the World Health Organization in Geneva. He is currently the Director of the Department of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections of the Health and Environment Surveillance Secretariat at the Ministry of Health. 

Beatriz Grinsztejn is an infectious diseases physician and researcher at the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. She is the Director of the STD/AIDS Clinical Research Laboratory and principal investigator of the FIOCRUZ HIV Prevention and Therapeutic Clinical Trials Unit. The unit is affiliated with the HIV Prevention Trials Network, the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the ANRS, and implements prevention and therapeutic clinical trials and cohort studies. She is the Brazilian principal investigator for the Caribbean, Central and South America network for HIV epidemiology of the International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS. Beatriz is a member of the Brazilian Ministry of Health ART and PrEP Advisory Committees, PAHO Technical Advisory Committee and PrEP Task Force, and the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel. She is a faculty member of the Master’s and PhD programme on clinical research in infectious diseases at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.

Dr. Claudia Cortés is a Professor at the University of Chile and a specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases, with more than 20 years of experience in HIV care, research and education. She works at Fundación Arriarán, Chile’s first and largest HIV treatment centre. She has trained and mentored undergraduate students, medical residents, infectious diseases fellows and doctoral candidates, and has held leadership roles within the Chilean Infectious Diseases Society, including Chair of its HIV Committee and Vice-President.

A longstanding consultant to the Chilean Ministry of Health, Dr. Cortés has contributed to national guidelines and policies on HIV prevention, testing and treatment, as well as COVID-19 management. She is the Chilean principal investigator in the CCASAnet HIV epidemiology network, with research interests spanning women’s health, migration, HIV coinfections, the microbiome and chronic inflammation. She has co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has served on the International AIDS Society Governing Council since 2020.

Mutsa Bwakura Dangarembizi is an academic paediatrician whose research focuses on paediatric HIV, malnutrition and child health with an emphasis on optimising treatment outcomes through clinical trials and implementation research in resource-limited settings.

Elise Lankiewicz is a Senior Policy Associate at amfAR, working across global HIV research, policy, and advocacy. 

Beatriz Grinsztejn is an infectious diseases physician and researcher at the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. She is the Director of the STD/AIDS Clinical Research Laboratory and principal investigator of the FIOCRUZ HIV Prevention and Therapeutic Clinical Trials Unit. The unit is affiliated with the HIV Prevention Trials Network, the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the ANRS, and implements prevention and therapeutic clinical trials and cohort studies. She is the Brazilian principal investigator for the Caribbean, Central and South America network for HIV epidemiology of the International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS. Beatriz is a member of the Brazilian Ministry of Health ART and PrEP Advisory Committees, PAHO Technical Advisory Committee and PrEP Task Force, and the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel. She is a faculty member of the Master’s and PhD programme on clinical research in infectious diseases at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.