Nicoli Nattrass (born 30 May 1961) is a South African development economist who is professor of economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
[4][5] Nattrass was director of the AIDS and Society Research Unit at CSSR, which studied the socioeconomic and political impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.
[6] Between 2002 and 2012, Nattrass published a number of academic articles and books that examined the history, sources, characteristics of HIV/AIDS denialism and its impact on HIV prevention and AIDS treatment.
[8] Nattrass was critical of President Thabo Mbeki's HIV/AIDS policy,[9] and she was threatened with libel charges by a government minister for documenting the South African Cabinet's support for unproven HIV treatments.
[12] They too modelled AIDS-related mortality and morbidity in South Africa as the result of the government's decision not to provide public access to HIV medicines.
In a 2012 article in Skeptical Inquirer and her book The AIDS Conspiracy: Science Fights Back (2012), Nattrass examines the landscape of the AIDS-denialist community and identifies four groups of characters who propagate denialism: hero scientists (provide scientific credibility); cultropreneurs (promote non-evidence based, unproven alternative treatment); living icons (proof that HIV is not the cause of AIDS) and praise singers (journalists and film makers who promote the cause).