Quarraisha Abdool Karim Receives Honorary Degree for Role in HIV Prevention Research

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD, MS ‘88, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, received an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Science, from the University of Stellenbosch, at a graduation ceremony on December 15. The degree was conferred for her “commitment to research and education in the field of women's health in Africa and globally, particularly her successful efforts in increasing the national and international focus on HIV, and her pivotal role in HIV prevention research.”

Abdool Karim is the UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV and co-chairs the UNAIDS Advisory Group to the Executive Director. She is a member of the UNAIDS 2025 target setting and resource mobilization Steering Committee and the Scientific Advisory Board of the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

As an infectious disease epidemiologist, she has spent over 25 years researching how HIV/AIDS is spread in South Africa and its impact on women. In 2017, she was named one of seven trailblazing women in science by BBC. That same year, the journal Nature profiled the careers and experiences of five eminent scientists who have made major discoveries in drug discovery, and Quarraisha Abdool Karim was one of those featured. 

Also in 2017, she and her husband Salim Abdool Karim, PhD, MS ‘88, were honored by the Institute for Human Virology with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service in recognition of their outstanding contributions to research on the AIDS pandemic. Their groundbreaking research demonstrated that antiretrovirals can also prevent the sexual transmission of HIV in what was a watershed moment in the fight against the spread of the virus. The research was highlighted by science as one of the “Top 10” scientific breakthroughs in 2010. 

In 2013, she was awarded South Africa's highest honor, the Order of Mapungubwe, for her breakthrough scientific contributions.

In addition to her Columbia Mailman School appointment, Abdool Karim is associate scientific director, Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and Pro-Vice Chancellor for African Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.