Dean of the Faculty - Professor Shabir Madhi

Professor Shabir Madhi is the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He also holds the position of Director of the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA) and is co-Director of the African Leadership Initiative for Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE).

Prof Madhi completed his MBBCH degree at Wits in 1990, specialised in Paediatric and graduated in 1996, and subsequently completed his PhD at Wits in 2003. He had specialised in Intensive Care and current holds a sub-speciality in Infectious Diseases. He has previously served as the Executive Director of the National Institute for Communicable Disease between 2011 and 2017.

Prof Madhi is rated by the National Research Foundation as an A-rated scientist of internationally recognition for his research on vaccines against life threatening disease in childhood, in pregnant women and against respiratory diseases; and studies on vaccines in people living with HIV. He led the first two COVID-19 vaccine studies undertaken in Africa, and has been involved in multiple epidemiological studies on Covid-19 in South Africa.

He is the recipient of a number of awards including Lifetime Achievement Award from the South African Medical Research Council Platinum Medal and National Science and Technology Forum; and the Academy of  Sciences South Africa Science-for-Society Gold Medal. Also, he serves on multiple international advisory Committees, including at World Health Organisation.