Dr Fareed Abdullah is the Director of the Office of AIDS and TB Research and holds a part-time appointment as an HIV clinician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria. Fareed is a medical doctor who was involved in activism during the AIDS denialism era and is currently responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in his capacity as a public health medicine specialist. He has a strong interest in pivoting the health system towards more impactful outcomes for patients. He has experience working in the public sector and strengthening networks and relationships with the private sector.

Previously, he was a senior manager in the Western Cape Health Department for 12 years, where he led the implementation of antiretroviral treatment in the public sector. He was Africa Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (Geneva) from 2008 to 2011 and CEO of the South African National AIDS Council from 2012 to 2017. He co-chairs the SA National TB Think Tank.