Dr. Nadia Chanzu: Fighting HIV’s risks in Africa

Nadia started her researches in her home town of Nairobi, Kenya. She used to study at the University of Nairobi on infectious diseases. This is where her passion for HIV research was birthed, when she was involved in a project among a cohort of HIV infected female sex workers in Nairobi.

At that time it became evident to me that I needed to contribute to reducing the spread of the disease. HIV is a huge concern in sub Saharan Africa and this cannot be ignored, says Nadia.

ART (antiretroviral therapy) is the result of decades of research in HIV. It now enables to prevent transmission of the virus from the mother to the child during pregnancy. However, although the children are born HIV uninfected, these children are at an increased risk of being born premature and they also have a very poor quality of life during their first year of infancy. This is why Nadia chose to work on this issue:

Nadia believes that the connection between HIV/ART and adverse pregnancy outcomes has to do with the delicate balance of an expectant mother’s immune system with the developing baby. She is thus analyzing placenta and the immune cells it contains to understand why HIV-positive pregnant women are significantly more likely to give birth prematurely, and ultimately to find a way to prevent this risk.

Nadia has been awarded a fellowship by the AXA Research Fund in 2015, which will enable her to work at the University of Cape Town (UCT) from 2016 to 2019 in order to mitigate the numbers of premature births that occur in vulnerable populations in South Africa.

Nadia's research will have a direct impact on public health, hopefully providing a foundation to inform alternative therapies and alleviate the risks associated with pregnancy in HIV-infected mothers. She says South Africa, and UCT in particular, is the ideal place for her to continue this research.

Having the opportunity to undertake the AXA Fellowship at UCT at the Division of Immunology will give me access to cutting-edge technology and expertise that is currently lacking in my home country, Kenya.

2016’s World AIDS Day

Since 1988, December 1st is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic, caused by the spread of HIV infection. The red ribbon is the global symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS.

AXA PPP Healthcare and AXA Prévention in France contribute to raising awareness on the HIV virus by delivering advice to prevent its spread. Throughout AXA’s international volunteer program, prevention and solidarity actions are undertook all year in most entities of the Group to fight AIDS all over the world.