Prof Refilwe Phaswana-Mafuya, the North-West University’s (NWU’s) deputy vice-chancellor for research and innovation, will serve as chair of one of the largest conferences in sub-Saharan Africa, the 2019 SA AIDS Conference.

Dira Sengwe, the non-governmental organisation who will be hosting the conference, nominated Prof Phaswana-Mafuya, based on her expertise and knowledge in the field.“I am truly humbled to be approached to serve as the chairperson of this remarkable conference which will address a very important issue in our society and the world.”

“This is a great honour for the NWU,” says Prof Phaswana-Mafuya. “The conference will present us with an opportunity to work with teams of colleagues on the respective aspects of the conference. This will include serving in the organising and scientific committee, being scientific reviewers, chairing sessions, submitting posters and making paper presentations.”

Prof Phaswana-Mafuya’s duties as chairperson of the conference will include managing the scientific content of the event, chairing meetings, acting as public face of the conference, nominating keynote and plenary speakers, compiling the conference programme in collaboration with the conference programme committee, and developing criteria for abstract submission and evaluation, among others.

The ninth SA Aids Conference will take place from 10 to 13 June 2019 in Durban. This conference is highly sought after and is a remarkable gathering of people who share their voices and are committed to HIV prevention in South Africa and globally.

“I would like to encourage everyone to reserve this date to attend the conference and plan to share scientific papers during the event,” adds Prof Phaswana-Mafuya.

The eighth conference that took place in 2017 was attended by more than 2 000 delegates from South Africa, SADC, Europe, USA and other parts of the world. It involved 200 national and international speakers, 400 poster presentations and 70 exhibitors.

Prof Refilwe Phaswana-Mafuya.