Ariane van der Straten PhD, MPH is an Adjunct Professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, and an independent investigator and consultant through ASTRA consulting. Over the past 25 years, she has researched women’s sexual and reproductive health issues globally, and throughout  the lifespan (from menarche to post-menopausal women).

She combines biomedical and socio-behavioral research to better understand and assess adherence to, and acceptability of biomedical prevention methods. Her expertise spans preclinical and clinical research (phase I to III trials) to evaluate short and long-acting HIV prevention approaches (topical, oral, injectable, or implantable), and multi-purpose prevention technologies (MPT) for HIV and pregnancy prevention. 

For over seven years, while at RTI International, Ariane also led the development of a biodegradable implant, as an end-user informed long-acting HIV drug delivery platform. She recently joined the USAID funded MATRIX R&D collaborative as a consultant to the Prime (Dr. Sharon Hillier, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA, USA).