IPHASA 2021: Closing session

Dr Marcel Yotebieng serves as Associate Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, providing leadership to the Global HIV and Infectious Disease Research Program. He started his professional career as a physician staffing a HIV and a tuberculosis (TB) clinic in a large regional hospital in Limbe, Cameroon. For the past two decades, Marcel has worked across multiple countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as a clinician, public health practitioner, and researcher. From 2009 to 2013, he lived full time in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) supporting the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program and teaching as a visiting faculty at the Kinshasa School of Public Health. His research focus is on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and HIV care optimization for children living with, or exposed to HIV. He is the PI or mPI of the following ongoing NIH-funded studies: Long term outcomes of therapy in women initiated on lifelong ART because of pregnancy in DR Congo (CQI-PMTCT Study); HIV/ART, low birth weight, and mortality in HIV-exposed uninfected children: a translational mechanistic study; Einstein/Rwanda/DRC Consortium for Research in HIV/HPV/Malignancies; and the Central Africa International Epidemiologic Database to Evaluate AIDS.

Dr. Namusoke-Magongo is the founder of the International Paediatric HIV/AIDS Symposium for Africa (IPHASA). She is a Paediatrician & Child Health Specialist with 14 years’ experience designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating, and scaling up paediatric and adolescent HIV programmes in sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda). As the Senior Programme Officer (team lead) for Paediatrics and Adolescent HIV Care and Treatment, she is responsible for the overall leadership and coordination, policy development and review, capacity building, quality assurance, resource mobilization and implementation of the national paediatrics and adolescent HIV programme in Uganda. Dr. Namusoke-Magongo is a member of the WHO Adolescent HIV Service Delivery Technical Working Group (ASWG), Child Survival Working Group (CSWG) and more recently the WHO HIVReSNet Steering Group. In 2020, she participated in focus group discussions to develop the next UNAIDS strategy and has also participated in the development of WHO-lead technical briefs for the children and adolescents. She is a member of the NIH-Fogarty funded Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA). Dr. Namusoke-Magongo is also the founder of the Paediatric and Adolescent HIV Learning Collaborative for Africa (PAHLCA), a meeting that brings together Ministry of Health, Paediatrics and Adolescent HIV programme managers and country stakeholders to promote south-to-south learning. Dr. Namusoke-Magongo research interests have focused on optimizing antiretroviral therapy for children and adolescents, improving viral suppression and HIV drug resistance. She is leading the establishment of the first national paediatric and adolescent HIV cohort in Uganda.

Dr Marcel Yotebieng serves as Associate Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, providing leadership to the Global HIV and Infectious Disease Research Program. He started his professional career as a physician staffing a HIV and a tuberculosis (TB) clinic in a large regional hospital in Limbe, Cameroon. For the past two decades, Marcel has worked across multiple countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as a clinician, public health practitioner, and researcher. From 2009 to 2013, he lived full time in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) supporting the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program and teaching as a visiting faculty at the Kinshasa School of Public Health. His research focus is on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and HIV care optimization for children living with, or exposed to HIV. He is the PI or mPI of the following ongoing NIH-funded studies: Long term outcomes of therapy in women initiated on lifelong ART because of pregnancy in DR Congo (CQI-PMTCT Study); HIV/ART, low birth weight, and mortality in HIV-exposed uninfected children: a translational mechanistic study; Einstein/Rwanda/DRC Consortium for Research in HIV/HPV/Malignancies; and the Central Africa International Epidemiologic Database to Evaluate AIDS.

Marissa is leading the Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER), at International AIDS Society. Prior to that she was Deputy Scientific Director at the Merieux Foundation and worked as an independent consultant. She has a Masters in Biotechnological Law and Ethics and has been developing and driving strategic research promotion, cross-sectoral collaborations and advocacy programmes for over 15 years.

Dr. Sani Aliyu is a consultant in microbiology & infectious diseases at Cambridge University Hospitals. He was until recently the National Coordinator of the Nigeria Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. As Director-General of the Nigeria National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) from 2016-19, Dr Aliyu is credited with the successful delivery of the world’s largest HIV-specific population-based AIDS indicator and impact survey. He currently sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee for CEPI and the Africa Commission on COVID-19.

Dr. Namusoke-Magongo is the founder of the International Paediatric HIV/AIDS Symposium for Africa (IPHASA). She is a Paediatrician & Child Health Specialist with 14 years’ experience designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating, and scaling up paediatric and adolescent HIV programmes in sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda). As the Senior Programme Officer (team lead) for Paediatrics and Adolescent HIV Care and Treatment, she is responsible for the overall leadership and coordination, policy development and review, capacity building, quality assurance, resource mobilization and implementation of the national paediatrics and adolescent HIV programme in Uganda. Dr. Namusoke-Magongo is a member of the WHO Adolescent HIV Service Delivery Technical Working Group (ASWG), Child Survival Working Group (CSWG) and more recently the WHO HIVReSNet Steering Group. In 2020, she participated in focus group discussions to develop the next UNAIDS strategy and has also participated in the development of WHO-lead technical briefs for the children and adolescents. She is a member of the NIH-Fogarty funded Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA). Dr. Namusoke-Magongo is also the founder of the Paediatric and Adolescent HIV Learning Collaborative for Africa (PAHLCA), a meeting that brings together Ministry of Health, Paediatrics and Adolescent HIV programme managers and country stakeholders to promote south-to-south learning. Dr. Namusoke-Magongo research interests have focused on optimizing antiretroviral therapy for children and adolescents, improving viral suppression and HIV drug resistance. She is leading the establishment of the first national paediatric and adolescent HIV cohort in Uganda.