Birgit Poniatowski, PhD

Executive Director, IAS

Public health and international development expert Birgit Poniatowski was appointed as IAS Executive Director in November 2020, following more than five years at the organization.

“Progress happens when science, policy, and activism come together.”

“In my view, our primary focus must be on maximizing access to the excellent prevention and treatment technologies we already have, and on ensuring sufficient resources to develop the technologies we still lack, crucially an HIV cure and an HIV vaccine.

Both ultimately require political will, which is increasingly difficult to mobilize against the background of competing national and global concerns, both within and beyond the realm of public health.

We have come this far in the HIV response because of an unprecedented (and often admired) collaboration across sectors and fields, and it is this momentum and energy we must maintain, because progress happens when science, policy, and activism come together.”