The ACU is delighted to announce Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim as the opening keynote speaker for ACU Summer School 2019.

Hosted by the University of Mauritius, the Summer School will bring students from across the Commonwealth together for an innovative programme of activity centred on the theme 'Public Health: from a small island state to the global community'.

Professor Abdool Karim – an infectious diseases epidemiology specialist – will bring a wealth of expertise to the programme, thanks to her experience as UNAIDS Special Ambassador, Associate Scientific Director at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa), and professor at both the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and Columbia University, USA.

Her critical work tackling HIV transmission in young people led to her receiving South Africa's highest honour, the Order of Mapungubwe, in 2013. She has published extensively on HIV prevention and prevalence.

Professor Abdool Karim said: 'I am really looking forward to the 2019 ACU public health summer school in Mauritius and delivering the opening keynote address. What a great programme for participants to look forward to with state of the art lectures covering priority topics, new and emerging technologies including precision public health and enough time for networking, collaborating, peer learning and opportunities to gain first-hand experience on health care delivery in Mauritius.'

Dr Archana Bhaw-Luximon, Associate Professor, Centre for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research at University of Mauritius, and the Summer School academic programme lead, said: 'Professor Quaraisha Abdool Karim is an eminent scientist, who has also dedicated her career to mentoring young scientists. Her work, highlighted by Science as one of the Top 10 scientific breakthroughs in 2010, on developing methods to protect women from HIV and her central role in building the science base in southern Africa through training over 600 scientists, shows her dedication to the cause. We're pleased to be able to give students the opportunity to interact with her at the Summer School!'

More information

The University of Mauritius is hosting the 2019 ACU Summer School, which will bring together 45 students from around the Commonwealth and challenge them to apply their subject specialisms to real-world public health issues.

• View the full programme
• Find out more about the speakers 
• Applications are open until January 13 2019 – apply here

The Summer School has been running since 2011 and aims to provide an international learning opportunity for students who often have not previously travelled outside their home country, broaden participants' knowledge, develop their skills, provide opportunities for networking, and introduce them to the culture of the host country. Many students attend thanks to fully-funded ACU travel bursaries.

For further enquiries about the Summer School, email [email protected] – for all other enquiries, email [email protected]