The HIV Medicine Association is pleased to recognize three members during IDWeek 2024 for their contributions to advancing the field of HIV medicine.

“This year’s award winners have showcased unwavering commitment to elevating the quality of care and advancing research and equitable policies to end the HIV epidemic,” said Allison Agwu, MD, ScM, FIDSA, chair of HIVMA. “I’m honored to present them with these awards and celebrate their remarkable contribution to HIV science, clinical care and health justice.”

Transformative Leader Award: Daniel R. Kuritzkes, MD, FIDSA

The Transformative Leader Award recognizes HIVMA members who have transformed the field through significant achievement in HIV clinical care, provider education, research or advocacy. This year’s honoree is Daniel R. Kuritzkes, MD, FIDSA.

Dr. Kuritzkes, the Harriet Ryan Albee Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, is a trailblazer in advancing knowledge of drug-resistant HIV who has had a transformative impact on the understanding and care of people with HIV and on countless trainees and colleagues. 

He is a leading expert in drug-resistant HIV worldwide. Among his most significant contributions are his work to establish the significance of resistant mutations against nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and his insight that certain drug resistance mutations reduce viral fitness. Each of these research developments has proven fundamental to the field’s understanding of resistance to HIV medications and advanced clinical care with drug-resistance testing becoming a standard of HIV care.

Additionally, Dr. Kuritzkes is chair of the World Health Organization HIV Resistance Network Steering Group. He previously led the Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally group, where he conducted clinical trials that resulted in lifesaving advances in HIV management. Included in his over 300-article repertoire are reports that have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine and other high-impact journals.

HIVMA is honored to present Dr. Kuritzkes with the 2024 Transformative Leader Award for the important role he has played in both advancing knowledge of drug-resistant HIV and establishing the practice of drug-resistance testing.

Ada Adimora Citation Award: Oni Blackstock, MD, MHS

The inaugural Ada Adimora Citation Award honors the late Ada Adimora, MD, MPH, FIDSA, a past chair of HIVMA and member of the IDSA Board of Directors, for her service, unwavering commitment and leadership in advancing health equity through research, education and advocacy. The award recognizes exemplary contributions or service to HIVMA as well as advancing efforts to end HIV as an epidemic, such as through social justice and public service. The inaugural award goes to Oni Blackstock, MD, MHS.

Dr. Blackstock — a primary care and HIV physician, researcher and public health practitioner — has spent her career in the relentless pursuit of equity and justice in health care. She has conducted transformative research and championed policies that prioritize the needs of Black and Latinx people with HIV.

As founder and executive director of Health Justice, a consulting firm that helps health care organizations center antiracism and equity in the workplace, she serves as an expert consultant on HIV clinical research projects. Dr. Blackstock helps organizations implement practices that reduce health inequities in the communities that they serve.

Dr. Blackstock was previously the assistant commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She led the city’s response to ending the HIV epidemic and established the first racial equity program in addition to playing a crucial communications role for the department during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Blackstock was an assistant professor of medicine at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine and has published editorials on diversity, equity and inclusion in esteemed journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA.

HIVMA is delighted to present Dr. Blackstock with the 2024 HIVMA Citation Award for her constructive influence on policies that foster equity in HIV care.

Innovator Award: Onyema Ogbuagu, MD, FACP, FIDSA

The Innovator Award recognizes HIVMA members in early or mid-career who have made outstanding and original contributions to HIV medicine in clinical care, provider education, research or advocacy. The 2024 recipient is Onyema Ogbuagu, MD, FACP, FIDSA.

Dr. Ogbuagu — an associate professor of infectious diseases at Yale School of Medicine — is a prolific researcher who has conducted groundbreaking, investigator-initiated clinical trials and other research on HIV and COVID-19.

Dr. Ogbuagu oversaw an expansion of the research portfolio through the Yale HIV and Vaccines Clinical Trials Unit that led to more than $9 million in funding. He has been a principal investigator on several multinational clinical trials, where he studied novel treatments for viral and bacterial infections, including the DISCOVER trial, which is evaluating TAF/FTC versus TDF/FTC for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men and transgender women.

In addition, Dr. Ogbuagu was principal investigator on multiple investigational therapeutic and preventive clinical trials in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He helped strengthen Africa’s COVID response when he chaired the logistics subgroup of the Africa Task Force on Coronavirus and has since led medical training initiatives in Rwanda and Liberia funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. Dr. Ogbuagu also conducts capacity-building research focused on preventing HIV among adolescent girls and young women in Liberia.

HIVMA is proud to present Dr. Ogbuagu with the 2024 Innovator Award for the monumental impact of his clinical trials on HIV and other infectious diseases.

This news release was published by HIVMA on October 16, 2024.

Click here for more reports from IDWeek 2024.