Stephen Lawn Memorial Lecture 2022

This annual lecture is organised in honour of the life and work of Stephen Lawn. Steve was Professor of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and an active member of the TB Centre and worked closely with the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he was based from 2005 to 2012.  Steve worked tirelessly to improve the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis among people living with HIV/AIDS. He authored over 250 publications and received many awards.

This year’s memorial lecture will be delivered by Dr. Soumya Swaminathan. The in-person lecture has limited numbers and will be booked on a first-come first-served basis. The virtual event is open to all, and the key audience includes academics with an interest in HIV and tuberculosis, immunologists, clinical trialists and clinicians.

Speaker

Dr Soumya Swaminathan was appointed WHO’s first Chief Scientist in March 2019. A paediatrician from India and a globally recognized researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, she brings with her 30 years of experience in clinical care and research and has worked throughout her career to translate research into impactful programmes. Dr Swaminathan was Secretary to the Government of India for Health Research and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research from 2015 to 2017. In that position, she focused on bringing science and evidence into health policymaking, building research capacity in Indian medical schools and forging south-south partnerships in health sciences. From 2009 to 2011, she also served as Coordinator of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases in Geneva.

She received her academic training in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and has published more than 350 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. She is an elected Foreign Fellow of the US National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of all three science academies in India. The Science division’s role is to ensure that WHO stays ahead of the curve and leverages advances in science and technology for public health and clinical care, as well as ensuring that the norms, standards and guidelines produced by WHO are scientifically excellent, relevant and timely. Her vision is to ensure that WHO is at the cutting edge of science and is able to translate new knowledge into meaningful impact on population health worldwide.