At the end of 2022 International AIDS Conference, Sharon Lewin Assumes IAS Presidency

IAS – the International AIDS Society – welcomed Sharon Lewin (Australia) as the next IAS President and Beatriz Grinsztejn (Brazil) as President-Elect today. IAS leadership also expressed deep gratitude to Adeeba Kamarulzaman (Malaysia) who steps down as IAS President and assumes her role as immediate-past President.

Lewin, a world-renowned infectious diseases physician and basic scientist, is also the inaugural Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. For more on Sharon’s extraordinary work and accomplishments.

Addressing delegates at the closing ceremony of AIDS 2022, the 24th International AIDS Conference, Lewin outlined her vision and explained why she remains an optimist about the strength of the global HIV response.

"AIDS 2022 has made it clear once again: progress happens when we come together and unleash the power of our movement. That is why the IAS exists. That is why we need to double down on our efforts to unite the voices of activists, policy makers and scientists," Lewin said.

"At AIDS 2022, we called on the world to re-engage and follow the science, and I can think of no better leader than Sharon to champion this cause and assume the leadership of the IAS," Kamarulzaman said of her successor. "These past two years, as another pandemic overtook the planet, Sharon’s pioneering HIV cure research and analysis have become even more important, providing a roadmap for the global response to COVID-19."

Similarly, Lewin expressed her admiration for Kamarulzaman and her leadership of the IAS over the past two years. 

"Adeeba has spent decades challenging stigma, dismissing taboos and shattering glass ceilings," Lewin said. "She brought this tenacity to her two-year term, leading the IAS through the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and a historic era, including our first-ever hybrid conference. As a woman in science, I look forward to the day when two consecutive female presidents isn’t remarkable – but today it is and I’m proud to be a part of this new era."

As Lewin assumes her new role as IAS President, Beatriz Grinsztejn assumes her role of President-Elect. Grinsztejn, an infectious diseases physician, is the Director of the STD/AIDS Clinical Research Laboratory and principal investigator of the FIOCRUZ HIV Prevention and Therapeutic Clinical Trials Unit in Rio de Janeiro.

The IAS also announced newly elected members of its Governing Council, which determines strategy and policy direction for IAS to ensure that the organization fulfils its mission.