Anna Kramvis

BScHons, PhD

Anna Kramvis is a Research Professor and Director of the Hepatitis Virus Diversity Research Unit (HVDRU), University of the Witwatersrand. The HVDRU provides a molecular virology research and training platform: with a focus on African hepatitis B virus (HBV) strains, their functional characterization and their role in clinical manifestation. Globally over 290 million individuals are chronically infected with HBV and a large number will develop liver cancer. 16% - 20% of these carriers reside in Africa. No infectious diseases research in Africa can neglect the AIDS pandemic scourging our continent, so, in addition to HBV-mono-infection, her team is researching HBV/HIV co-infection and developing bioinformatics tools for their study. The National Research Foundation of South Africa has rated her as an internationally recognized scientist. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSaf). She is a member of the European Association for the Study of the Liver and sits on various international committees including the Hepatitis Transformative Science Group of the AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) and its HBV Cure Working Group, and the governing body of the International Coalition to Eliminate HBV (ICE-HBV). Ιn September 2017, with Professor Jake Liang of NIH, she organized the 2017 International HBV Meeting in Washington D.C. If we are going to respond to the WHO call for the elimination of hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, Professor Kramvis believes, that hepatitis research on prevention and treatment in Africa should be prioritized, there is no room for complacency!