Prof Ashraf Coovadia, director of ESRU Head of Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital (Previously Coronation) and University of The Witwatersrand (Wits) is involved with provincial and national departments of health and has established campaigns and programs that resulted in improvements of government policies and procedures. He continues to serve as an advisor on the Paediatric Antiretroviral expert panel that assists the NDoH with developing and implementing paediatric treatment guidelines. He does this in his capacity as part of the steering committee of the Child and Adolescent Committee of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society. He played and continues to play a key role in the revision process of the PMTCT policies and will remain a technical advisor to the NDoH on PMTCT and Paediatric HIV. He is also a member of the several different councils, committees and societies to be at the forefront of driving changes and improvement on policies for all HIV infected women and children .

Dr Renate Strehlau is a clinical researcher who manages an active research unit focused primarily on paediatric HIV treatment, novel drug development, and mother-to child HIV transmission. She has a special interest in paediatric neurodevelopment and has completed her Masters degree on this topic. Dr Strehlau participates in the teaching of undergraduate medical students and the supervision of research projects.

Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of the Witwatersrand and Centre for HIV and STI, National Institute for Communicable Diseases. A Paediatric Haematologist, working in Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) of HIV infection and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT) over the past 15 years spanning research, service provision, development of a training program for health care staff including training materials, monitoring, advocacy and providing technical assistance both nationally and internationally.

Infant and maternal mortality are two of the most devastating challenges facing South Africa due to the HIV epidemic and every single averted death and prevented illness brings the country closer to reaching not only its international commitments but more importantly its promise of a better life to its population many of whom remain extremely vulnerable. My work is focused around merging service delivery in the field of pediatric HIV and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV with operational research. During the period of high maternal HIV prevalence in Southern Africa this is especially relevant as HIV has led to the reversal of the gains made in reducing infant, child and maternal mortality over the last decades. Based at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital with the remarkable support of my senior colleagues (Prof. A Coovadia and G Sherman locally and Prof L Kuhn at Columbia University) I have been able to pursue an academic career simultaneously. I have developed and introduced data systems that enable the HIV clinical services to report their activities.

Dr A Kelly and Sister Annie Jordan founded the HIV clinic in 1993. The clinic comes from a partnership between Wits University and the State hospital. The clinic started out of a need to help infected children and affected families in managing HIV and AIDS. Initially the clinics took place in the specialist clinic of Rahima Moosa Hospital, then known as Coronation Women and Children Hospital, once a week on Thursdays. Then the clinic saw about 5 patients a week. Soon after 1994 during the country’s transition into a democracy the hospital experienced many changes and reshuffling, so the clinic stopped temporarily. As the HIV pandemic grew so the need for care became more and more relevant. Seeing this need, the Paediatric Department, under Professor Bolton re-established the clinic to help guide infected children and their families.The clinic has grown in leaps and bounds with Prof Coovadia joining as head in 1998.Sr Annie Jordaan has been in charge as a nurse mentor an advocate for children and became the Project Manager of the CCMT Site. She is still in charge of the Empilweni Clinic.