Professor Anna Kramvis, BSc Hons, PhD, is Research Professor and Director of the Hepatitis Virus Diversity Research Unit (HVDRU), a University-recognized research entity.
The HVDRU (www.wits.ac.za/health/hvdru) provides a platform for training of research scientists in molecular virology. The dictum of the HVDRU is: A compassionate team, creating knowledge, developing capacity. Our primary research interest is the epidemiology and molecular virology of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), especially of uniquely African strains of the virus, which differ from those found in other regions of the world. The focus of our research has been the study of sequence variation of African HBV strains, their functional characterization and their role in clinical manifestation of disease. HBV is estimated to infect two billion humans and it is second only to cigarette smoking as an agent causing human cancer. Globally over 257 million individuals are chronically infected with the virus and a large number of these will develop liver cancer. Approximately 16% - 20% of the carriers of the world reside in Africa. No infectious diseases research in Africa can neglect the AIDS pandemic scourging our continent, so, in addition to HBV-mono-infection, our team has also researched HBV/HIV co-infection.
She is a Fellow of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSaf).
Professor Kramvis together with Professor Jake Liang of NIH organized the 2017 International HBV Meeting (https://www.hbvmeeting.org/) in Washington in September 2017 and has been asked to organize the 2023 Internatioal HBV Meeting, together with Professors Patrick Arbuthnot, Wits and Richard Njouom from Cameroon. It will be the first time, in its over 35 year history, that this meeting will be held on African soil.
She is a member of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) and sits on various international committees including the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) Hepatitis Transformative Science Group, Governing Body of the International Committee to Eliminate HBV (ICE-HBV), Member of ICE-HBV Virology, Chronic Hepatitis B Management in Resource-Limited Settings working groups and convener of the Biomarkers Group. In October 2020 with Professor Peter Revill, she organized a virtual ICE-HBV Biomarkers Workshop (https://ice-hbv.org/hbv-serum-biomarkers-workshop/).
She is or has been on the editorial board of Annals of Hepatology, Frontiers, Virology Journal, Hepatology, PlosOne and Biomed Central Infectious Diseases.
She is a passionate advocate for the elimination of hepatitis is sub-Saharan Africa through increased vaccination coverage, especially of the birth dose; through diagnosis, to find the missing millions; and improved access to treatment for those eligible.
