Prof Venter heads Ezintsha, a sub-syndicate of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He leads multiple antiretroviral treatment optimisation studies, and has an active interest in public sector access to HIV services. He is currently working on new first and second line antiretroviral options, patient linkage to care interventions, and HIV self-testing projects. He has led large PEPFAR-funded HIV programmes in South Africa, including one that focuses on truckers and sex workers. He has been represented on South African and regional HIV guidelines for over a decade, having done almost all his training within South Africa. He is an advisor to the South African government, ACTG, Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, UNAIDS and WHO. He has been involved in several human rights cases involving HIV within the Southern African region, and has an active interest in medical ethics.

His major research currently focus on combinations of newer drugs to improve the resistance and potency while lowering the cost of first and second line antiretrovirals, improve early diagnosis of HIV, facilitate access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, as well as using patient information to drive improved linkage to care after diagnosis. He supervises multiple local and international Masters and PhD students, and is the convenor of the regional Diploma in HIV Medicine and Diploma in Sexual Health and HIV for the Southern African Colleges of Medicine.