Olive Shisana is Chief Executive Officer of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town and immediate past-President of the International Social Science Council. Prior to this she served as the HSRC’s Executive Director of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS and Health, and was previously the Executive Director, Family and Community Health, World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland. She is an authority in HIV surveillance, having been a principal investigator for several second-generation surveillance systems for HIV. She was one of the founders of the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, as well as the Maternal and Child Mortality Surveillance. Her recurrent national household surveys on HIV/AIDS prevalence, practices and attitudes have greatly influenced the HIV/AIDS campaign in our region. She has served on many national and international scientific committees and advisory boards, such the Ministerial Advisory Committee on National Health Insurance, the US Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Methodological Challenges in HIV Prevention Trials, the Emory University Global Health Institute Advisory Board, the South African National AIDS Council and the chair of the Nelson Mandela’s 46664 Board.  She has recently been appointed to head the South Africa’s BRICS Think Tank and is Chair of the Council of BRICS Think Tanks as well as the AIDS 2016 Global Conference South African Co-chair.