Person-Centred Care Research Collaborative: Ageing and HIV

Reena Rajasuriar is an Associate Professor at the Department of Medicine, University of Malaya, a principal investigator at the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), University of Malaya, and an Honorary Fellow at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Melbourne University, Australia. With a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) and Master’s in clinical pharmacy from the University Science Malaysia, she was awarded her PhD in immunology by Monash University Australia. Reena coordinates the translational research programme in HIV immunology and ageing at CERiA and heads the Immunotherapeutics Laboratory at University of Malaya. Her research focuses on the immunopathogenesis of ageing in people living with HIV and its interaction with functional ageing outcomes. Her research programme on HIV and ageing (AgeVantage+) at CERiA has been instrumental in providing early insights into the multidimensional profiles of ageing experienced by people living with HIV in resource-limited settings and the critical role that both HIV and non-HIV related factors contribute to the trajectory of ageing. Now, her team is focused on understanding how integrated HIV care can best be implemented in resource-limited settings to promote healthy ageing.

Reena Rajasuriar is an Associate Professor at the Department of Medicine, University of Malaya, a principal investigator at the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), University of Malaya, Malaysia, and an Honorary Fellow at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Melbourne University, Australia. With a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) and Master’s in clinical pharmacy from the University of Science Malaysia, she was awarded her PhD in immunology by Monash University, Australia. Reena coordinates the translational research programme in HIV immunology and ageing at CERiA and heads the Immunotherapeutics Laboratory at the University of Malaya. Her research focuses on the immunopathogenesis of ageing in people living with HIV and its interaction with functional ageing outcomes. Her research programme on HIV and ageing (AgeVantage+) at CERiA has been instrumental in providing early insights into the multidimensional profiles of ageing experienced by people living with HIV in resource-limited settings and the critical role that both HIV- and non-HIV-related factors contribute to the trajectory of ageing. Now, her team is focused on understanding how integrated HIV care can best be implemented in resource-limited settings to promote healthy ageing.

Yvonne Gilleece is a nationally and internationally recognised leader in HIV medicine. With over 20 years of experience, she serves as an Honorary Clinical Professor at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and as a Consultant in HIV Medicine at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. Professor Gilleece is also the current Chair of the British HIV Association (BHIVA), a prestigious role she has held since 2023, following several years of leadership positions within the organization. Her clinical expertise focuses on HIV in women, and she leads the Sunflower Clinic in Brighton, which provides specialised care for women living with HIV. She has also played a pivotal role in the development of national guidelines, having chaired the BHIVA Pregnancy Guidelines. She also specialises in HIV and Bone health and HIV and hepatitis co-infection and liver dysfunction, and regularly publishes research in all her subspecialty fields. Yvonne is actively involved in education and community outreach, regularly contributing to health initiatives and promoting research on women’s health in HIV through organizations like INFORM+ and WAVE.

Jepchirchir Kiplagat is a Lecturer at Moi University School of Public Health and the Director of Research at the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) in Kenya. A public health expert specializing in health systems research and implementation science, she leads research focused on improving care delivery for older adults living with HIV and multimorbidity. Her work leverages implementation science and community-based approaches to design and evaluate integrated, person-centred models of HIV and NCD care. Kiplagat’s research is supported by early career development awards from the U.S. National Institutes of Health – Fogarty International Center (K43) and Gilead Sciences Global Public Health Award Program. She is a core member of the Lancet Commission on HIV and Aging and contributes to advancing the global evidence on healthy longevity among people aging with HIV.

Bonaventure Ukoaka is an early-career medical doctor from Nigeria with experience in clinical care and public health research and programs. He holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Medicine and Surgery from the University of Calabar and a Primary Fellowship in Internal Medicine from the West African College of Physicians, where his work as a clinician kindled his interest in HIV care. As a public health physician, he has actively worked, in the last 3 years plus, to provide equitable services to PLHIV at field level and in the clinics. With ECEWS, a Nigerian NGO, and on the US CDC SPEED Project, he supports care provision for PLHIV while providing technical oversight to the state’s HIV-non-communicable diseases (NCD) program integration. Bonaventure doubles as Executive Secretary and Research Trainer at First-On-Call Initiative (FOCI), a grassroots health organisation he co-founded to promote accessible healthcare for diverse groups, while serving on Springer Nature’s Editorial Board. He led the IAS-funded person-centred care project in Delta State, Nigeria, and is currently training at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation under the prestigious IAS-supported Mark Wainberg Fellowship Program.

Vanessa Fozao Mbi is a young physician and public health professional serving as the PATA Country Representative for Cameroon. She is a Person-Centered Care Fellow with the International AIDS Society (IAS) and a seed grantee leading the project “Enhancing Health Outcomes for Men Aging with HIV”; which integrates non-communicable disease and urological care while prioritizing person-centered preferences to strengthen service delivery and client engagement.

Amy Justice is a Clinical Epidemiologist and a General Internist. She created and has led the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS), an ongoing, longitudinal study of >170,000 United States veterans with and without HIV infection funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1996. She developed and validated widely used HIV indices including a prognostic index, the VACS Index, and a patient reported symptom index, the HIV Symptom Index and has collaborated in many cross-cohort analyses of important questions in the care of those aging with HIV. She is a member of the International Advisory Boards of Lancet HIV and Journal of the International AIDS Society.

Keri N Althoff is a Professor in Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health. Keri uses large-scale longitudinal data to answer otherwise unanswerable questions and improve health, particularly for populations underrepresented in research.

Andrew Tan is currently the President of the Kuala Lumpur AIDS Support Services Society (KLASS). He has been providing counselling and support to newly diagnosed patients since joining KLASS in 2002. His passion is understanding how HIV Treatment Literacy impacts patients’ Adherence and Compliance. He has facilitated workshops for NGOs, corporations and has trained community trainers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. HIV Sensitization & Awareness talks for Medical Students as well as various health departments, district health offices and clinics across Malaysia; round off his volunteer work.

Linda-Gail Bekker is the Chief Executive Officer of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation and Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Linda-Gail is a physician, scientist and infectious disease specialist. Her research interests include programmatic and action research around antiretroviral rollout and TB integration, prevention of HIV in women, young people and men who have sex with men. Linda-Gail serves on numerous international scientific and advisory committees. She is an A+ rated scientist and has published more than 700 peer-reviewed papers.

Genie Siegler is Professor Emerita of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. She is a member of the Medical Care Criteria Committee (MCCC) for the New York State AIDS Institute (AI) Clinical Guidelines Program and the AI’s Clinical Quality Advisory Committee, where she is a co-chair of the Long Term and Lifetime Survivor Subcommittee. She also served as content expert to the Capacity Building Provider for the Ryan White HIV and Aging SPNS initiative, and on the Scientific Committee of the International Workshop on HIV and Aging.