Professor Dato’ Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman

Distinguished infectious disease expert Professor Dato’ Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman has devoted her career to the prevention, treatment, research and advocacy of HIV and AIDS globally. A compassionate humanist, her work reflects a lifelong commitment to solving problems through science and reason while upholding human values and dignity. She played a key role in establishing the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA) at the University of Malaya, a premier multidisciplinary research centre dedicated to community-focused HIV research. For her contributions to academia and medicine, the Ministry of Higher Education honoured her with the National Academic Figure Award 2023.

In 2022, Adeeba became the first Malaysian appointed commissioner of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, helping shape drug policy reform in Malaysia. Her extensive expertise has led to advisory roles within several World Health Organization committees, and she serves as Vice-Chair of the WHO Science Council and as a member of the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel on HIV. She also made history as the first woman of Asian descent to serve as president of the International AIDS Society, completing her two-year term in 2022.

Now serving as Chief Executive Officer and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Monash University Malaysia, Adeeba leads the 27-year-old institution—home to students from nearly 80 countries—into a new chapter of innovation and excellence. Under her leadership, Monash Malaysia became the first Solferino Academy Global Innovation Partner with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), establishing an innovation lab to advance humanitarian projects through digital and technological solutions. The university also achieved top-performing institution status among Malaysia’s 19 self-accredited universities, earning scores above 90 per cent in leadership, academic development and quality improvement, as recognised by the Ministry of Higher Education and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. She continues to chair the ROSE Foundation, an internationally award-winning NGO dedicated to eradicating cervical cancer, as well as the Malaysian AIDS Foundation.