Julio Montaner (Canada) Becomes IAS President, Elly Katabira (Uganda) Elected IAS President-Elect

Mexico City -- The International AIDS Society (IAS), principle organizer of the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, today announced Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Canada, as its new President for the next two years. Montaner takes over from outgoing President, Dr. Pedro Cahn.

The new President- Elect is Dr. Elly Katabira, Associate Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at Makerere University in Uganda. Katabira becomes the first ever African representative to hold the position.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dr. Julio Montaner in 2005 became Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, a programme at St Paul´s Hospital at Providence Healthcare, after serving as the Centre’s Director of Clinical Activities since 1992. He has been a member of the IAS since 1988, an elected IAS Governing Council member representing the North American region since 2002, and IAS President-Elect since 2006. Dr. Montaner has authored over 300 scientific publications on HIV/AIDS. He holds the Endowed Chair in AIDS Research at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is also the Director of the AIDS Research Programme and Immunodeficiency at St Paul's Hospital.

In addition to his work at SPH/UBC, Dr. Montaner was an AIDS National Health Research Scholar from 1987 to 1997. He has been involved in the organization of several national and international HIV/AIDS conferences and is founding Co-Director of the Canadian HIV Trials Network. Dr. Montaner received his MD at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1981, he joined the University of British Columbia as a post-doctoral fellow, completed a residency in Internal Medicine and Respiratory Medicine and was Chief Resident for the Department of Medicine in 1986/1987.

Dr. Elly Katabira has worked extensively in the field of care and support for people living with HIV since 1985. He is the Clinical Advisor at the AIDS Clinic in Mulago Hospital and at the Infectious Diseases Institute of Makerere University Medical School in Uganda. In 1990 he was recognized as a World AIDS Foundation International Scholar. Dr. Katabira’s research interests include clinical trials and operational research issues on various aspects of HIV/AIDS care and support delivery, both within institutions and at community level.

Dr. Katabira has consulted on HIV/AIDS care and support issues for UNAIDS and WHO, as well as for Family Health International. He is co-founder of The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) and is their medical advisor. Dr. Katabira has authored more than 150 scientific articles and abstracts.

Katabira will assume the Presidency of the International AIDS Society on the closing day of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) to be held July 18 to 23 in Vienna, Austria.