The Order of Mapungubwe in Silver

Professor Barry David Schoub Awarded for:

His achievement in virology and his invaluable contribution to infectious diseases and to science and the people of South Africa and internationally.

Profile of Professor Barry David Schoub

Prof. Barry David Schoub was born on 30 July 1945 in Johannesburg and received his undergraduate MB BCh at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). In 1977, he received a United States Public Health Service international postdoctoral fellowship and was the first recipient of the James Gear International Postdoctoral Fellowship. He served as a Fogarty fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, United States of America.

In 1978, he was appointed as the first Professor and Head of the Department of Virology at Wits at the age of 33. He was the founding Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), serving as Executive Director between 2002 and 2011.

Prof. Schoub is a member of several local and international bodies, including serving as an adviser for World Health Organisation (WHO) programmes on polio, measles, respiratory syncytial virus and influenza. He was also a member of the WHO’s Advisory Committee for Poliomyelitis Eradication and of the interim board of the International Society of Influenza and Respiratory Viruses. An expert adviser for the Technical Advisory Groups of the WHO Afro for polio and measles, he was the founding chair of the National Advisory Group on Immunisation of South Africa.

He is the founding president of the African Virology Association, chairs the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Poliomyelitis Research Foundation and served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Between 1990 and 1999, Prof. Schoub served on various international structures, including the International Scientific Advisory Committee, the International Congresses of Virology and the International AIDS Congress.

Prof. Schoub is an internationally renowned virologist who guided the careers of many young virology scientists. His work includes more than 280 scientific publications and 16 chapters in books.

Lynn Morris of the AIDS Virus Research Unit at the NICD describes Prof. Schoub as a vaccine guru, having written a very successful book on HIV and AIDS, entitled AIDS & HIV in Perspective, which was published by Cambridge University Press, is now in its second edition and was in the forefront of HIV vaccine development. He is regarded as one of the thought leaders in the field of HIV and AIDS research He has earned a number of awards, including the Paul Harris Award of Rotary International and the Daubenton Prize of Wits.