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Meet our Scientific Advisory Panel
Formation of the Global Campaign for Microbicides’ Scientific Advisory Panel
In the same way that recent scientific advances have led to a better understanding of how HIV and other sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) spread from person to person, these advances have also led to the development of new candidate microbicides with novel mechanisms of action.
With every new advance in HIV prevention science, however, the knowledge gap between the scientific and advocacy communities widens. It is important to bridge this gap, not only so that advocates can remain informed and engaged partners in the microbicides development process, but also to help researchers design and test products that people are willing and able to use. To bridge this gap and to increase the scientific literacy of staff and partner organizations, the Global Campaign for Microbicides (GCM) has established a Scientific Advisory Panel.
The Global Campaign’s science and ethics officer, Dr. Sean Philpott works closely with the Panel as necessary whenever new scientific information relevant to the Global Campaign’s mission and goals becomes available. Panel members provide independent scientific advice to help the Campaign prioritize its on-going research and advocacy efforts.
The Scientific Advisory Panel is made up of seven scientists who share the Campaign’s commitment to increased investment in the development of microbicides and other user-initiated HIV prevention methods (especially for women). The advisors are all internationally-recognized experts in one or more key areas, including epidemiology and biostatistics, reproductive health, HIV treatment and drug resistance, clinical trial design, and drug development and testing.
The members of the Scientific Advisory Panel are:
Patricia Fletcher, PhD, a research scientist at St George’s University of London who focuses on the pre-clinical evaluation of microbicides and their effectiveness.
Bryna Harwood, MD, co-Director of Family Planning in the Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Safety Physician on several HPTN and MTN microbicide trials.
Betsy Herold, MD, Vice Chair for Research Development, Dept. of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital. Her research interests includes the development of new animal models for testing microbicide safety and efficacy.
John Kaldor, PhD, Deputy Director and Professor of Epidemiology at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales.
Sheena McCormack, MSc, FRCP, Senior Clinical Scientist for the MRC Clinical Trials Unit and co-Principal Investigator of the Microbicides Development Programme.
Tom Moench, MD, Co-inventor of the candidate microbicide BufferGel and Co-founder of ReProtect, a company that focuses on developing and testing products designed to prevent pregnancy and to protect against HIV and other STIs.
Janneke van de Wijgert, PhD, MPH,Senior Epidemiologist at the Center for Poverty-related Communicable Diseases in the Netherlands, and Principal Investigator on several safety and effectiveness trials of candidate microbicides in Africa, Asia and Latin America.