Unite to reach all with person-centred HIV prevention

Beatriz Grinsztejn is an infectious disease physician-researcher who has dedicated her career to HIV and AIDS care and research. With colleagues, she established the FIOCRUZ HIV/AIDS Service, which is the largest care provider in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since 1999, she has served as Director of the HIV/AIDS Clinical Research Unit at the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases - FIOCRUZ in Rio de Janeiro. Beatriz has also been the principal investigator (PI) for a clinical trials unit for the past 13 years.

She established strong partnerships with the NIAID-NIH networks, HPTN, ACTG, HVTN, CoVPN and the Caribbean, Central and South America network for HIV epidemiology (CCASAnet), the ANRS, the Canadian HIV Clinical Trials Network, the Kirby Institute, and the Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications (CEPAC) Group, serving in several technical and leadership roles. In the ACTG and HPTN NIAIDNIH networks, Beatriz was a member of the Executive Committee and various scientific committees related to research on ART, women’s health and men who have sex with men. She is the Brazil PI for CCASAnet, which created a shared repository of HIV data from sites in these regions. Beatriz is a member of the Brazilian Ministry of Health ART and PrEP Advisory Committees, PAHO Technical Advisory Committee and PrEP Task Force, and UNAIDS Expert Panel. She also served on the WHO ART Guidelines Panel.

Beatriz has contributed to advancing the science on HIV prevention and treatment and has led or participated in seminal global research studies, such as HPTN 052, iPrEX, START, Reflate TB, the Opposites Attract Study, HPTN 077 and HPTN083. She is the Co-Chair of the HPTN 083 study to evaluate injectable cabotegravir for PrEP in HIV-negative men who have sex with men and trans women. She is the PI of the PrEP Brazil demonstration study, which provided data to support PrEP incorporation into the Brazilian public health system as a public health policy.

Beatriz is the Director of the first established trans health clinic in Rio de Janeiro, which provides gender-affirmative care and prevention services and the PI for the PrEParadas study, the first Brazil-based PrEP demonstration study dedicated to trans women. She is also the Brazil co-PI for imPrEP, a multinational Unitaid-funded demonstration/implementation study aimed at expanding PrEP in Brazil, Peru and Mexico. More recently, she has integrated the international effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently leading or involved in various COVID-19 observational, prevention and treatment studies.

Beatriz has contributed to numerous publications and has over 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications. As a Professor of the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Postgraduate Program at FIOCRUZ, she has mentored more than 25 Master’s and PhD students.

Beo Oliveira Leite has a PharmB and MSc in epidemiology and is a PhD candidate in epidemiology at the Federal University of Bahia, Institute of Collective Health, and a visiting graduate researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health. Beo’s professional experience includes working in the field of public health, particularly concerning the healthcare of trans women and the epidemiology of HIV and its social and behavioural determinants, as well as conducting cross-sectional studies using complex sampling techniques and longitudinal studies.

Yvette Raphael-Samuels is a co-founder of the new Advocacy for Prevention of HIV and AIDS (APHA) in South Africa and a leader in the country’s HIV prevention movement for young women. She is one of South Africa’s most influential civic leaders and human rights activists. Her activism began in 2000 when she was diagnosed with HIV and experienced first-hand what it means to live with the virus in a region with high levels of stigma and reduced access to health care. She has spent the past two decades advocating for prevention education and better treatment and access to healthcare for people living with HIV, specifically young women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and intersex communities.

Micheal Ighodaro is a global health strategist, human rights advocate and expert in community engagement, specializing in health equity and LGBTQI rights. With over a decade of experience across 20+ countries, Micheal’s work has significantly impacted HIV prevention and health advocacy worldwide. Micheal has been instrumental in promoting community-centred HIV prevention approaches, helping shape policies that address the needs of key populations communities and championing the U=U campaign. Micheal is the Executive Director of Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC), an organization he co-founded to advocate for the rights and dignity of Black gay men globally. Under his leadership, GBGMC has broadened its advocacy footprint, with focused initiatives on HIV prevention demand generation and policy influence affecting LGBTQI communities. Micheal is also a co-founder of Global Black Pride, the first international celebration centred on Black LGBTQI communities, fostering global visibility and unity.