Professors Salim Abdool Karim (L) and his wife Quarraisha Abdool Karimn attend a virtual meeting on a laptop at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) in Durban on September 13, 2024. Through decades of work on preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV and TB, South African public health power couple Quarraisha and Salim Abdool Karim are credited with saving thousands of lives. Married for more than 40 years, the researchers, both aged 64, are respected around the world for their research and advocacy on preventing the spread of viruses such as HIV, TB, Coronavirus and mpox. On September 19, 2024 they were announced as winners of the prestigious Lasker Award for public service, a top recognition for medical research described as the US equivalent of a Nobel prize for science. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP) (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)