Research and Master Candidate: Medical Anthropology

HIV and Aids may be a medical issue but Gcobani Qambela knows that the social sciences can uncover why behavioural interventions don’t work and what strategies sub-Saharan governments should adopt. Qambela is completing his master’s in Medical Anthropology at Rhodes, researching Xhosa men and issues of risk, responsibility and vulnerability in relation to HIV and Aids. His “big break” came in 2009, when he was selected by a Princeton University professor to help to research the “governance of infectious diseases”. By 2011 he was working full-time for the Centre for Aids Development, Research and Evaluation, where he still consults on HIV and Aids programme evaluations in the Eastern Cape. He also shares his passion and knowledge through Youth Hub Africa, for which he serves as the South African correspondent. Last year he was a member of the Unesco/Peace Child International task force of global youth leaders who put together the youth summary of Unesco’s Global Monitoring Report 2012.

— Cat Pritchard

Twitter: @GcobaniQambela