Professor Shabir Madhi

Faculty of Health Sciences

Prof. Shabir Madhi is the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology. He is the co-founder and co-Director of the African Leadership Initiative for Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE). Prof. Madhi completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training at the University of the Witwatersrand, qualifying as a paediatrician in 1996 and obtaining his PhD in 2003.

He currently holds the positions of Director of the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytical Research Unit (VIDA), and is Research Chair in Vaccine Preventable Diseases of Department of Science and Innovation/National Research Foundation. He also serves as the Chair of the National Advisory Group on Immunization in South Africa, and is a member of the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) since 2019.    

Prof. Madhi has co-authored over 460 scientific publications since 1997. His research has focused on the epidemiology, and clinical development of lifesaving vaccines against pneumonia and diarrheal disease. Over the past decade, he has focused on vaccines being developed for immunisation of pregnant women for the benefit of the women and their young infants.

He is leading the first two COVID-19 vaccine studies being undertaken in Africa.