Invited Speakers

Adeeba Kamarulzaman (MYS) – Monash University Malaysia

Professor Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman is President and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Monash University Malaysia and an internationally recognised expert in HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases. Her work focuses on evidence-based, pragmatic approaches to HIV prevention, health equity, and public health policy, particularly among key and marginalised populations. In 2021, she was appointed an inaugural member of the World Health Organization Science Council. She is a former President of the International AIDS Society, the first Asian to hold the role, and currently serves on several global health commissions. More at www.linkedin.com.

Gentiane Monsel (Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital) – Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

Dr. Gentiane MONSEL is a dermatologist and infectious disease specialist with expertise in genital dermatology and sexually transmitted infections. She has been practicing at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris for the past ten years, where she combines clinical care, research, and teaching activities. Dr. Gentiane MONSEL currently leads the Sexual Health Center at the same institution. Her research focuses on sexually transmitted dermatophytoses and Klebsiella aerogenes folliculitis.

Saiqa Mullick (ZAF) – Institution Wits RHI, (under Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand)

Professor Saiqa Mullick is a Reader/Associate Professor and Director of Implementation Science at Wits RHI. Prof Saiqa Mullick is a medical doctor with a PhD in infectious disease epidemiology. She specialises in innovative interventions for HIV, sexual and reproductive health, and the intersections of climate and health. At Wits RHI, she leads a multi-disciplinary team driving implementation science research, policy support, demand creation, market shaping, and large-scale program execution.

Notably, she is the principal investigator on multiple implementation science studies focusing on generating real-world data on biomedical HIV prevention as part of integrated service delivery for young women and providing technical assistance for introduction at scale. She has served as Deputy Director for the USAID-funded OPTIONS Consortium, enhancing PrEP access for women in South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. She was also a strategic leader in the MOSAIC project, accelerating new biomedical HIV prevention products across 10 countries in East and Southern Africa.

Prof Mullick serves on several national and international technical expert committees, including the national PrEP and STI technical working groups and the WHO STI Global Guidelines Development Group. She is a frequent speaker at global conferences on HIV prevention and adolescent health and has published extensively in these fields.

More about Wits RHI www.facebook.com.

Remco Peters (CHE) – World Health Organization

Dr Remco Peters is a Medical Officer in the Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections at the World Health Organization. He leads WHO’s global work on STI prevention, diagnosis and treatment, with a focus on innovation, guideline and policy development, and strengthening programme implementation.

Before joining WHO in 2024, Dr Peters worked as HIV/STI clinician, epidemiologist and academic researcher. He led multiple donor-funded public health and clinical research programmes in South Africa and across the African region, advancing evidence-based approaches to improve sexual health outcomes.

Thibaut Vanbaelen (BEL) – Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp

Thibaut Vanbaelen is a medical doctor and postdoctoral researcher at the HIV/STI Clinic of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. He combines clinical sexual health care with epidemiological and clinical research on sexually transmitted infections, HIV prevention, and antimicrobial resistance. He holds medical and general practice degrees from the Catholic University of Louvain and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Antwerp. His current work focuses on STI screening, doxycycline prophylaxis, and antimicrobial resistance. More at www.linkedin.com.

Benjamin Weil (GBR) – The Love Tank CIC

Dr Benjamin Weil is Head of Research and Community Knowledge Generation at the London-based non-profit The Love Tank. Ben has led on research programmes and resource development across a number of areas, including HIV PrEP, DoxyPEP, gonorrhoea vaccination, sexualised drug use (chemsex), and transgender health and wellbeing needs. Ben holds a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from University College London and is a visiting lecturer on postgraduate public health modules at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.