Person-Centred Care Research Collaborative: Supporting HIV prevention through programming and service delivery in Asia

Iskandar Azwa is an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. He undertook his postgraduate training in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine in Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in London. He is currently the Clinical Lead for the HIV service in the Infectious Diseases Unit at the University of Malaya Medical Centre. His research interests include HIV Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation research among key populations, HIV resistance and evaluation of newer HIV treatment strategies. He is the site Principal Investigator (PI) for several international collaborative HIV clinical trials including the TAHOD, START and D2EFT studies. Much of his recent work has focused on increasing community access to HIV prevention biomedical interventions and implementation of differentiated service delivery models of HIV care & prevention.

Benjamin Bavinton has worked in the field of HIV prevention and research in Australia and internationally for 20 years. He is a Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader at the Kirby Institute, The University of New South Wales in Australia, focusing on the biomedical, behavioural and epidemiological aspects of HIV prevention among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and trans women in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Carol Strong is a Professor in the Department of Public Health at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. She is a behavioral scientist specializing in HIV prevention, sexual health, and chemsex, with a focus on gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and other key populations in Asia. Her work centers on behavioral and implementation-oriented strategies, including digital interventions, adaptive approaches to PrEP adherence, and the evaluation of integrated service models for STI care, chemsex harm reduction, and PrEP delivery. Dr. Strong has published in leading journals such as the Journal of the International AIDS Society, The Lancet HIV, and Addictive Behaviors. Her research emphasizes community engagement, culturally grounded intervention design, and cross-sectoral collaboration to advance health equity in HIV prevention and care.

Kantarida Sripanidkulchai, MD, is a lecturer in Preventive and Social Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, and a clinician in a large HIV clinic providing care for more than 2,000 people living with HIV. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Clinical Preventive Medicine, with additional training in travel health. Her work focuses on person-centred HIV prevention and care for adolescents and young adults, integrating digital health tools, community leadership and rights-based approaches. She is the lead investigator of Stand By You, an innovative online service model offering HIV self-screening, text-based counselling and linkage to care, which has successfully reached first-time testers and underserved youth in Thailand. Dr Sripanidkulchai has published in peer-reviewed international journals on infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, COVID-19 risk assessment and HIV prevention. She is a committee member of the Thai AIDS Society and a member of the Infectious Diseases Association of Thailand, the Royal College of Physicians of Thailand and the International Society of Travel Medicine, contributing to national efforts to advance equitable and person-centred HIV services.

Simran Shaikh Bharucha is an intersectional feminist public health and governance leader with over 26 years of experience advancing equity, dignity, and rights-based development across India and the Globe. With dual master’s degrees in Public Health and Social Work, she has led national and regional programs supporting more than 500 community-based organizations, shaped policy dialogues at the UN, World Bank, and diplomatic forums, and held leadership roles including Director of Transgender Health at Johns Hopkins University and Technical Lead at Plan International India. Her work spans HIV prevention, gender-affirming health systems, social protection, philanthropic advisory, and community-led governance models. Simran is widely recognized for integrating lived experience with strategic leadership to design transformative, scalable solutions for transgender and queer inclusion. She continues to drive sectoral innovation through research, donor engagement, and systems strengthening, championing approaches that center dignity, opportunity, and community ownership.

Andrew Mujugira is head of the Infectious Diseases Institute Kasangati, Makerere University, Uganda. He has over ten years of experience with oral PrEP efficacy trials, demonstration projects and implementation studies. His current research focuses on developing methods to build self-efficacy and empowerment, increase antiretroviral adherence and reduce sexual/HIV-related vulnerabilities among key populations in Uganda through the use of combination HIV prevention tools (HIV self-testing, antiretroviral treatment and PrEP).