| Intro | South African researcher |
| Is | Epidemiologist |
| From | South Africa |
| Type | Biology |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 20 March 1960, Tongaat |
| Age: | 60 years |
| Star sign | Pisces |
Quarraisha Abdool Karim is a South African epidemiologist who was awarded South Africa’s highest honor, the Order of Mapungubwe (Bronze).
On 24 March 2016, she received the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Awards for helping to combat HIV and improving the life of African women”.
Life
Karim was born in Tongaat in South Africa in 1960. She is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and African Academy of Sciences. At the XVIII International AIDS Conference, 2010 the results of their CAPRISA 004 study led to a standing ovation, an uncommon occurrence at a scientific meeting. She is a mother and is married to Salim ‘Slim’ Abdool Karim with whom she has worked with in research. On October 26, 2014, Karim was named winner of the 2014 TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize. She is the first woman to have received the $100,000 prize.
HIV
In 1990 she had taken blood samples of a population of South African women which demonstrated high rates of HIV infection in young women. In 2016 Karim was awarded the L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science for her “remarkable contribution to the prevention and treatment of HIV and associated infections, greatly improving the quality of life of women in Africa”. She was the laureate for Africa and the Arab States.