From science to stories: Strategies for communicating HIV science in changing funding landscapes

Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.

Solange Baptiste is Executive Director of ITPC Global, a network active in more than 40 countries advancing health and social justice through community engagement. With over 15 years of experience, she translates complex science and policy into strategies that resonate with communities, media, and policymakers. Solange has led pioneering work on community-led monitoring, equitable access to medicines, and sustainable health financing, consistently reframing communities as experts in science and health systems. She also co-leads the Health ImPACT Coalition, serves on the Global Public Investment Steering Committee, and advises multiple global health initiatives on access, AI, financing and accountability.

Chris Beyrer is an internationally recognized epidemiologist who has been Director of the Duke Global Health Institute since 2022. He has led collaborative research on HIV prevention and treatment in Southeast Asia, Africa and eastern Europe and central Asia for more than 30 years. A former IAS President, he has served as advisor to, among others, PEPFAR, HIV Vaccine Trials Network, NIH Office of AIDS Research and WHO. Chris was the inaugural Desmond M. Tutu Professor of Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH), where he was Associate Director of the JHU Center for AIDS Research and Center for Global Health. He was the Founding Director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights. He received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and holds a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2014 and serves on the Academy’s Board for Global Health and the Committee for Human Rights.

Dr. Nomathemba Chandiwana, BSc, MD, MPH, is Chief Scientific Officer at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa. A clinician-scientist with extensive experience in HIV medicine, she leads research at the intersection of HIV, obesity, cardiometabolic disease, and sleep health, with a particular focus on women’s health. Her work spans clinical trial leadership, evidence-based policy development, and the translation of science into practice to expand equitable access to care.
Dr. Chandiwana contributes to regional and global health agendas through service on several advisory and scientific committees, including INTEREST, the South African Society for Sleep and Health, the South African Clinician Scientists Society, the Food Justice Coalition, and the World Obesity Federation Health Systems Technical Working Group. She is a leading advocate for strengthening HIV and NCD services in Southern Africa and globally.

Dr Mumbi Chola is a Zambian epidemiologist and experienced public health researcher affiliated with the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) and the African-led HIV Control Working Group (HCWG). He has over 15 years of experience in research, project management and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, media & market research, and operations management. His previous research work has focused on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH-N), communicable diseases including HIV/AIDS, immunizations (including at the policy level), water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and health education and training. Dr Chola is knowledgeable and skilled in designing and leading technical work and has proven success in providing technical and programme support in project implementation. He has also demonstrated success in achieving results through research and analysis and effective monitoring of project implementation, having successfully led the field implementation of the 2021 Zambia Population-based HIV/AIDS Impact Assessment (ZAMPHIA) survey. Most recently, his work has focused on HIV, particularly on advocacy for amplified African voices in, and African leadership of, the HIV response to ensure its sustainability and safeguard the health of all citizens. Dr Chola is also a core member of the Zambia Immunization Technical Advisory Group (ZITAG), where he provides evidence-based recommendations that guide immunization programme implementation at the country level.

Brian Honermann is Deputy Director of Public Policy at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. Brian is a human rights lawyer and HIV activist and his work focuses on transparency and accountability of the global HIV response, with particular emphasis on civil society access to data and oversight processes of PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Through his work, amfAR has developed a series of databases and repository of global HIV budget, expenditure, and performance data with the goal of deepening civil society engagement with global funders of the HIV response. His work has also been instrumental in supporting community-led monitoring of public health facilities in 10 countries. He has also worked extensively on the legal, human rights, and impacts of the Mexico City Policy on PEPFAR and the global HIV response.

Lizzie Otaye is a dynamic storyteller and passionate development communicator with a proven track record in advocacy, strategic communication, and stakeholder engagement across Africa.

Nittaya Phanuphak is Executive Director at the Institute of HIV Research and Innovation (IHRI) in Bangkok, Thailand. She has deep interest in Key Population-Led Health Services (KPLHS) which empower lay providers who are members of key population communities to perform HIV/STI testing and dispense PrEP/PEP, ART and STI treatment to their peers. She currently works towards national accreditation and domestic financing systems for lay providers in order to expand KPLHS and ensure its sustainability. Beyond the integrated HIV, STI, and hepatitis services delivered in KPLHS, she strongly advocates for gradual additions of substance use, mental health, stigma and discrimination reduction, and human rights/legal support services into the model. During the last mile to ending HIV in Thailand, she has now focused seriously on the tangible actions to eliminate intersectional and multi-level stigma and discrimination through the use of a country-wide Undetectable equals Untransmittable (U=U) implementation strategies. She has been the International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council Representative of Asia and the Pacific Islands since 2018. She is also the Deputy Editor of the Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS) and the Joint Editor of Sexual Health.