Linda-Gail Bekker is Deputy Director, Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. She is also the Chief Operating Officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation and served as IAS President from 2016- 2018.
A physician-scientist and infectious disease specialist, Professor Bekker’s research interests include programmatic antiretroviral roll out, HIV/tuberculosis integration, and HIV prevention in women, youth, and men who have sex with men. She is Principal Investigator of UCT’s Clinical Trials Unit (UCTCTU) and is actively involved in the work of the 4 associated UCTCTU clinical research sites and NIH Division of AIDS (DAIDS) networks. She has chaired protocols for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the HIV Prevention Trials Network and been Investigator of Record in a number of network-related protocols. She heads up the Desmond Tutu Centre of Adolescent Health and Wellbeing aimed at developing the adolescent HIV/TB/STI treatment and prevention evidence base to inform adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive service platforms.
