Congratulations to Professor Theresa Rossouw for her remarkable achievement at the 2023 UP Academic Achievers' Awards. In a ceremony celebrating academic excellence, Professor Rossouw was honoured with the prestigious Exceptional Academic Researchers Award.
 
This annual accolade recognises seasoned academics who have displayed exceptional dedication and excellence in the fields of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, research, community engagement, and administration over an extended period.
  
Prof Rossouw, holding the distinguished title of Professor in the Department of Immunology, has a wide-ranging spectrum of research interests. Her work spans from the fundamental sciences, with a predominant focus on HIV-associated drug resistance and systemic immune activation, to the clinical and social sciences, where she has dedicated over a decade to exploring the socio-ethical aspects of HIV/AIDS.
 
In addition to her extensive research endeavours, Professor Rossouw exhibits a keen interest in clinical and research ethics, as well as research integrity. Her contributions have significantly advanced our understanding of HIV-related issues.

More About Professor Theresa Rossouw

Professor Rossouw is a professor in the Department of Immunology. 

She is a member of the Gauteng Provincial Health  Research Committee, the president of the South African Immunology Society, a member of the World Health  Organization Research and Innovation working group on  HIV-associated drug resistance, and the associate editor  of Microbial Immunology – Frontiers in Immunology. Professor Rossouw has an MBChB (cum laude), an MPhil in philosophy (cum laude), an MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics (cum laude), a DPhil in biomedical ethics (from Stellenbosch University) and a PhD in medical immunology (from the University of Pretoria). Her focal research areas are HIV infection, especially drug resistance, systemic immune activation, and immunothrombosis, as well as 
COVID-19, with a focus on immunopathology and long COVID. She also works in biomedical and research ethics and has a special interest in autonomy and vulnerable populations. She is the co-chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences at  the University of Pretoria and the past chairperson of  the Research Ethics Committee of the Human Sciences  Research Council. 

Professor Rossouw has supervised 23 master’s and five doctoral students to completion and has published 
101 research articles in accredited journals and nine book chapters. She has presented 76 peer-reviewed research papers and serves on the scientific and organising committees of various national and international conferences. She frequently reviews theses, dissertations, research articles, and guidelines. She is passionate about community and science engagement, especially raising awareness about immunological diseases. To this end, she has appeared on various television programmes and contributed articles to The Conversation, Sowetan, and News24.  In 2022, she was awarded the Faculty of Health Champion of Research in the category of visibility and impact and took home the first prize. She was also a finalist for the National Science and Technology Forum award, namely the TW Kambule NSTF Award, as a researcher with a contribution of up to 15 years of research work from the commencement of her career.

She has a C2 rating from the NRF and received a silver medal from the Medical Research Council, a scientific achievement award in recognition of excellence in research, in 2023.