JIAS Symposium: Advancing Use of Long-Acting HIV Treatment and Prevention Regimens

Prof. Gesine Meyer-Rath is a medical doctor and health economist working on the economics of infectious disease interventions in low- and middle-income settings. She is a Research Associate Professor in the Department for Global Health of the School of Public Health of Boston University, US, and a Principal Researcher at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE2RO) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr Meyer-Rath’s research focus lies on modeling methods for economic evaluation and translating research into recommendations for public policy, in particular for the HIV, TB and COVID-19 programmes of South Africa and other southern African countries. Additionally, she led a recent review of the available evidence on the economic impact of HIV. She holds an MD/PhD from Humboldt University and Free University, Berlin, Germany, and a PhD in Health Economics from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Dianne Rausch is the Director of the Division of AIDS Research at the National Institute of Mental Health, a component of the National Institutes of Health. In this role, she manages a research portfolio that encompasses a broad range of studies with the overarching goals of reducing the incidence of HIV/AIDS worldwide and decreasing the burden of living with HIV/AIDS. To this end, the Division supports research that includes basic and clinical neuroscience to better understand and alleviate the consequences of HIV infection of the central nervous system (CNS), and basic and applied behavioral science to prevent new HIV acquisitions and limit morbidity and mortality among those living with HIV. The Division places a high priority on interdisciplinary research across multiple populations, including racial and ethnic minorities, over the lifespan. Dr. Rausch received her BS in Biology from the University of Oregon and her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Northwestern University. Prior to her work in the Division, she spent 10 years in the NIMH Intramural Program studying HIV toxicity in the CNS and its impact on neural function.