Saiqa Mullick

Dr Saiqa Mullick is Director of Implementation Science, responsible for leading the development and implementation of a large portfolio of programmatic research and technical assistance. Her qualifications include a medical degree, two Masters level degrees in Public Health Methodology and in Public Health in Developing Countries and a PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors of Southern Africa (IoDSA).
Dr Mullick has over 15 years’ experience in clinical services, implementation science, programme monitoring and evaluation, reproductive health and HIV, technical assistance and capacity building in developing country settings including Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia and South Africa. She has extensive experience in the design, conduct of implementation science studies and has worked closely with governments, NGOs and stakeholders to promote utilization of research through support to policy and guideline development at national and global level.

Her areas of technical expertise include sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive health services, maternal health including contraception, adolescent health, antiretroviral (ARV) based HIV prevention and sexually transmitted and reproductive tract infections. She currently serves as Principal Investigator on several research studies addressing health needs of adolescents and leads a national initiative providing technical support to strengthen programming for adolescent girls and young women. She is Deputy Director of the OPTIONS consortium, a multi-country initiative supporting creative research and innovation critical to advancing potential ARV-based HIV prevention products in selected countries. Prior to joining Wits RHI Dr Mullick was Country Director for the Population Council’s South Africa office and Regional Associate Director for Africa.

Dr Mullick has published articles in peer reviewed publications, book chapters and multiple technical reports. She has served on local and international scientific committees as reviewer for international conferences and is currently serving as Prevention Track co-chair for the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society Conference for 2018. She is recognised as an expert in her field as evidenced by her involvement as an advisor at national and global levels and is a member of the South African National TB/HIV/STI Implementation Science Advisory Committee. She has served as an advisor to WHO on several occasions, including as a technical expert on the Global STI Guideline Development Group, the Global Strategy for Elimination of Congenital Syphilis and Global Strategy for Control of STIs.