Etienne Karita is a medical doctor of Rwandan nationality, with a post-graduate training in Molecular Biology (Free University of Brussels, Belgium) and Epidemiology (University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA). He has worked in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and research since 1990 and is currently the Scientific Adviser for Center for Family Health Research (CFHR) & Project San Francisco (PSF), the longest-standing health & medical research organization in Rwanda. He has served as Principal Investigator on several research studies on the prevention and pathogenesis of HIV infection as well as HIV and Ebola vaccine trials. Prior to joining CFHR/PSF, Dr. Karita was Senior Technical Advisor and International Program Officer for PMTCT programs sponsored by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Before that, he has served as the Founding Director of the Treatment and Research AIDS Center, Director of the National Reference Laboratory, and Director of the National AIDS Control Program in the Rwanda Ministry of Health. As the founding Director of the Treatment and Research AIDS Center in Rwanda, he played a very active role in the implementation and scale-up of individual HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services, and initiated the first pilot program for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in the country. He has held many national and international board and advisory roles, including board member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), vice-chair of the Board of Directors for Rwanda Biomedical Center, and chair of the Board of Directors for Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority.
