Chris Beyrer Receives Desmond Tutu Award for HIV Research

The International AIDS Society (IAS), the world’s largest organization of HIV professionals, has recognized Duke Global Health Institute director Chris Beyrer, M.D., with the Desmond Tutu Award for HIV Prevention Research and Human Rights.

The award recognizes the efforts of an individual or an organization that has worked in an outstanding manner to advance both HIV prevention research and the human rights of people affected by HIV, according to IAS. Beyrer received the honor on Oct. 7 during IAS’ HIV Research for Prevention conference in Lima, Peru.

Beyrer, a past president of IAS, has led collaborative research on HIV epidemiology, prevention and treatment in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia for more than 30 years. He serves as an advisor to the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, the World Health Organization and Physicians for Human Rights. At Duke, he is the Gary Hock Distinguished Professor in Global Health and is an associate director with the Duke Center for AIDS Research. 

Desmond Tutu, a South African archbishop who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, was a fierce advocate for HIV prevention and the human rights of people living with HIV. Until his death in 2021, he frequently fought against HIV denialism and discrimination and denounced laws that criminalized sexual identity and behavior.

The award carries personal significance for Beyrer, who worked with Tutu on HIV prevention and advocacy as the founding director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to coming to Duke, Beyrer served as the inaugural Desmond M. Tutu Professor of Public Health and Human Rights at JHU.