More than just a lab coat‚ Gray not afraid to speak out about issues close to her heart

25 April 2017 - 18:19 By Katharine Child
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Image: Handour

The "great people are coming" is what Dr Glenda Gray‚ paediatrician and medical research scientist‚ would say jokingly to her late father‚ after she was chosen as one of Time magazine's top 100 most influential people in the world.

She is the second South African to make the list‚ following Thuli Madonsela in 2014.

Her work in determining which drugs would stop HIV-positive mothers transmitting the virus to their babies and which drugs the HIV-exposed babies should be prescribed‚ was recognised by the prestigious magazine.

In 2017‚ less than one percent of all babies with HIV positive mothers are born HIV positive in South Africa. Before Gray's work‚ about 25% of all infants born to positive mothers contracted the virus.

Gray’s father died when she was a child‚ but she recalled him using the phrase "great people are coming" in reference to his six children’s talents.

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"He would always say this to us. My father expected the best from us‚ He had big expectations of us."

James McIntyre‚ Gray's partner in setting up the Perinatal HIV Research Unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital‚ said: "South African research‚ including Gray's‚ directly contributed to the global policies and success in preventing mother to child transmission.

"Whether standing up to President Thabo Mbeki's denialism‚ or fighting for the advancement of South African researchers‚ Glenda's courage and determination have always been evident‚ along with her wicked and irreverent sense of humour."

Their work led to people getting their HIV results on the same day that they tested‚ which is now standard practice in South Africa.

Gray is more than a lab coat. In 1998‚ she joined a protest against Mbeki's Aids denialism outside Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and lay in the road blocking traffic.

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She doesn't like the spotlight‚ but will speak out about issues close to her heart such as appealing to government for greater funding of scientific research.

"Science is underfunded in South Africa‚ most certainly. The majority of the funding I received was obtained competitively: international peer review‚ mostly through the National Institutes of Health in the US‚" she said.

When asked what her working hours are‚ the mom of three responds: "Shoo‚ I think am always working".

"When I wake up‚ I try to scan emails. If I am not taking the kids (out)‚ I try fit in some exercise. I get to work between 8.30 and 9am‚ leave at 6pm‚ take calls all the way home‚ and do between three-five conference calls a week from home‚ and then finish up emails. I try and write science on the weekends…

"I am trying to be better‚ and have more down time."

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She learned hard work from watching her mom single handily raise six children.

"We grew up under difficult circumstances and my mom was an incredibly hard worker‚ and I guess we learnt about hard work from the best. She worked as a labourer on our farm‚ worked in the fields harvesting lucerne‚ tomatoes‚ milking cows‚ and raising a family. We struggled on the farm to make ends meet.

"I saw sacrifice and putting others first."

Gray says of her mother: "She is proud of me and likes to brag about me‚ which I find totally embarrassing."

Currently‚ Gray is leading the world's only trial that is advanced enough to lead to an HIV vaccine if the trial is successful.

The vaccine is not expected to be 100% protective if successful but will reduce the risk of infection and be given to high risk groups such as young women.

-TMG Digital/TimesLIVE

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