Page 102 - SAMRC Annual Report 2024-2025

Office of AIDS and
TB Research

Office director:
Dr. Fareed Abdullah
Fareed.Abdullah@mrc.ac.za

Advancing Research Priorities:
Strategic Objectives and Impact

The Office of AIDS and TB (OATB) Research has built
a portfolio of research and projects that address HIV,
TB, COVID-19, pandemic preparedness and health
systems strengthening including public sector and
innovative health financing and two studies on
antimicrobial resistance.
In addition to this portfolio of work, the OATB plays a
strategic role with GIPD, SHIP, HSRU and other units
within the SAMRC to promote HIV, TB and health
financing research across the SAMRC and to make
funding decisions about what research priorities
should be funded by the SAMRC.
The OATB’s flagship project over the last two
years has been the Imagine Social Impact Bond
which uses an innovative financing instrument to
improve performance in an HIV and reproductive
health project for school-going adolescent girls and
young women. This brings together research on
pre-exposure prophylaxis, antiretroviral treatment,
contraception and early antenatal care with a unique
financing instrument where an investor provides
upfront capital and gets a return on investment if
programmatic outcomes exceed all expectations.
Other HIV research includes testing azithromycin
prophylaxis in advanced HIV, studying the role of Invest4Health Workshop co hosted by Genesis
retention in care in AHD, dolutegravir adherence Analytics UCT Bertha Centre & SAMRC Dec 2024.
and resistance, ART adherence in adolescents and
HIV COVID-19 vaccination immunogenicity. The
TB portfolio includes support and oversight of two and paediatric TB. The OATB leads a multi-unit team
large funding mechanisms in partnership with the on pandemic surveillance and in its health financing
NIH and the French ANRS in TB basic science and work leads the work of Pillar 6 of the Presidential
biomarkers and research in drugs, diagnostics and Health Compact and the G20 Joint Finance and
vaccine development, subclinical TB, transmission Health Task Force.

100 SAMRC ANNUAL REPOR T 2024-25