Serge Eholie is a professor of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at Treichville University Teaching Hospital in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He is a senior lecturer in Medical School of University Felix Houphouet Boigny, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He received his medical degree from the university of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and later specialized in infectious and tropical diseases. He trained in HIV management in France (Marseille and Paris) and served as a trainer on HIV in severals African countries. He is currently the deputy director of the National Agency for Research on AIDS and Hepatitis (ANRS), Research Center of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the President of the Réseau Africain des Praticiens Assurant la prise en charge des personnes vivant avec le VIH/SIDA (RESAPSI), the president of la Société Africain de Pathologie Infectieuse (SAPI), deputy Treasurer of the Societé Africaine Antisida (SAA), African representative in the governing council of International AIDS Society (AIDS) and is the vice president of Alliance Francophone des Acteurs de la Santé contre le VIH (AFRAVIH). He co-shaired the clinical guidelines developing group of WHO HIV guidelines in 2013 and 2015. He is the co-recipient with Xavier Anglaret of the 2017, Christophe Mérieux Prize awarding for a researcher studying infectious disease in developing countries. He is currently involved in research on HIV therapeutic strategies, HIV and hepatitis comorbidities, HIV and non-communicable diseases, HIV and ageing, non malaria febrile illnesses, emerging diseases, nosocomial infections and vaccine trials.

Pontiano Kaleebu is the Director of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and Director of the MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit based in Entebbe. The UVRI is the largest Government Research Institution in Uganda dealing in health research pertaining to human infections and disease processes associated with or linked to viral etiology. The MRC Unit is one of the two MRC-UK Units outside of the United Kingdom and is a multidisciplinary Programme studying the HIV epidemic in rural and urban settings, co-infections and non-communicable diseases. He holds a medical degree from Makerere University and a PhD from Imperial College, London. He is honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  He is a Fellow of Royal College of Physicians-Edinburgh and a Fellow of Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine. He leads a number of national and regional networks including the EDCTP East African Networks of Excellence. He serves on a number of committees including being a member of the EDCTP General Assembly representing Uganda and a member UNAIDS Expert Scientific advisory Committee. He chairs the HIV drug resistance Technical working group under the Ministry of Health and a member of the National Antiretroviral Treatment committee. His main research interests are HIV vaccine research especially understanding protective immune responses, HIV diversity