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Best Female Scientists
2025
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Medicine
South Africa
2026

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Best Female Scientists

D-Index
116
Citations
52539
World Ranking
672
National Ranking
1

Medicine

D-Index
121
Citations
57005
World Ranking
3595
National Ranking
4

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Medicine in South Africa Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Medicine in South Africa Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Medicine in South Africa Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Medicine in South Africa Leader Award
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa

Overview

Linda-Gail Bekker is affiliated with the University of Cape Town in South Africa and has a substantial body of research contributions primarily in the field of Medicine. Their research spans several subfields including Infectious Diseases, General Health Professions, Epidemiology, Virology, and Sociology and Political Science. The main focus areas include HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV, Drug Use, and Sexual Risk, HIV Research and Treatment, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research, Reproductive tract infections research, and Sex work and related issues.

Bekker has a record of recent published papers that include:

  • T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike cross-recognize Omicron (2022, Nature)
  • Twice-Yearly Lenacapavir or Daily F/TAF for HIV Prevention in Cisgender Women (2024, New England Journal of Medicine)
  • The influence of HIV-related stigma on PrEP disclosure and adherence among adolescent girls and young women in HPTN 082: a qualitative study (2020, Journal of the International AIDS Society)
  • Vaccine Efficacy of ALVAC-HIV and Bivalent Subtype C gp120-MF59 in Adults (2021, New England Journal of Medicine)
  • From Vaccine Nationalism to Vaccine Equity - Finding a Path Forward (2021, New England Journal of Medicine)

Frequent co-authors with whom Bekker has collaborated extensively are:

  • Glenda Gray
  • Connie Celum
  • Katherine Gill
  • Nigel Garrett
  • Dvora Joseph Davey

Bekker's publications appear regularly in several scholarly venues, with the highest numbers of publications in:

  • Journal of the International AIDS Society
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • AIDS and Behavior
  • UNC Libraries
  • The Lancet HIV

They have been recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.

Best Publications

  • Preexposure Chemoprophylaxis for HIV Prevention in Men Who Have Sex with Men

    Robert M. Grant;Javier R. Lama;Peter L. Anderson;Vanessa McMahan

  • Uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis, sexual practices, and HIV incidence in men and transgender women who have sex with men: a cohort study

    Robert M. Grant;Robert M. Grant;Robert M. Grant;Peter L. Anderson;Vanessa McMahan;Albert Liu

  • Emtricitabine-tenofovir concentrations and pre-exposure prophylaxis efficacy in men who have sex with men.

    Peter L. Anderson;David V. Glidden;Albert Liu;Susan Buchbinder

  • Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Elite Neutralizers: Individuals with Broad and Potent Neutralizing Activity Identified by Using a High-Throughput Neutralization Assay together with an Analytical Selection Algorithm

    Melissa D. Simek;Wasima Rida;Frances H. Priddy;Pham Pung

  • Immune reconstitution disease associated with mycobacterial infections in HIV-infected individuals receiving antiretrovirals

    Stephen D Lawn;Stephen D Lawn;Linda-Gail Bekker;Robert F Miller

  • Prevention of M. tuberculosis Infection with H4:IC31 Vaccine or BCG Revaccination

    Elisa Nemes;Hennie Geldenhuys;Virginie Rozot;Kathryn T Rutkowski

  • Caseation of human tuberculosis granulomas correlates with elevated host lipid metabolism

    Mi-Jeong Kim;Helen C. Wainwright;Michael Locketz;Linda-Gail Bekker

  • Use of a Vaginal Ring Containing Dapivirine for HIV-1 Prevention in Women

    Jared M. Baeten;Thesla Palanee-Phillips;Elizabeth R. Brown;Elizabeth R. Brown;Katie Schwartz

  • Advancing global health and strengthening the HIV response in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals: the International AIDS Society-Lancet Commission

    Linda Gail Bekker;Linda Gail Bekker;George Alleyne;Stefan Baral;Javier Cepeda

  • Broadly neutralizing antibody responses in a large longitudinal sub-Saharan HIV primary infection cohort

    Elise Landais;Xiayu Huang;Colin Havenar-Daughton;Ben Murrell

  • Safety and Efficacy of a Dapivirine Vaginal Ring for HIV Prevention in Women

    Annalene Nel;Neliëtte van Niekerk;Saidi Kapiga;Linda-Gail Bekker

  • Burden of tuberculosis in an antiretroviral treatment programme in sub-Saharan Africa: impact on treatment outcomes and implications for tuberculosis control.

    Stephen D Lawn;Landon Myer;Linda-Gail Bekker;Robin Wood

  • Early mortality among adults accessing a community-based antiretroviral service in South Africa: implications for programme design.

    Stephen D Lawn;Landon Myer;Catherine Orrell;Linda-Gail Bekker

  • Safety and efficacy of the HVTN 503/Phambili Study of a clade-B-based HIV-1 vaccine in South Africa: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled test-of-concept phase 2b study.

    Glenda E. Gray;Mary. Allen;Zoe. Moodie;Gavin J. Churchyard

  • Tuberculosis-associated immune reconstitution disease: incidence, risk factors and impact in an antiretroviral treatment service in South Africa.

    Stephen D Lawn;Landon Myer;Linda-Gail Bekker;Robin Wood

  • Ethionamide activation and sensitivity in multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    Andrea E. DeBarber;Khisimuzi Mdluli;Marlein Bosman;Linda Gail Bekker

  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis Growth at the Cavity Surface: a Microenvironment with Failed Immunity

    Gilla Kaplan;Frank A. Post;Andre L. Moreira;Helen Wainwright

  • Short-term and long-term risk of tuberculosis associated with CD4 cell recovery during antiretroviral therapy in South Africa

    Stephen D Lawn;Landon Myer;David Edwards;Linda-Gail Bekker

  • Screening for HIV-Associated Tuberculosis and Rifampicin Resistance before Antiretroviral Therapy Using the Xpert MTB/RIF Assay: A Prospective Study

    Stephen D. Lawn;Sophie V. Brooks;Katharina Kranzer;Katharina Kranzer;Mark P. Nicol;Mark P. Nicol

  • Fungal Burden, Early Fungicidal Activity, and Outcome in Cryptococcal Meningitis in Antiretroviral-Naive or Antiretroviral-Experienced Patients Treated with Amphotericin B or Fluconazole

    Tihana Bicanic;Graeme Meintjes;Robin Wood;Madeleine Hayes

Frequent Co-Authors

Robin Wood
Robin Wood University of Cape Town
Landon Myer
Landon Myer University of Cape Town
Stephen D. Lawn
Stephen D. Lawn London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Glenda Gray
Glenda Gray South African Medical Research Council
Ariane van der Straten
Ariane van der Straten University of California, San Francisco
Eduard J. Sanders
Eduard J. Sanders University of Oxford
Robert M. Grant
Robert M. Grant University of California, San Francisco
Chris Beyrer
Chris Beyrer Johns Hopkins University
Kenneth H. Mayer
Kenneth H. Mayer Harvard Medical School
James G. Kublin
James G. Kublin Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

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