Researcher Profiles
Professor Shabir Madhi
Professor Shabir Madhi
Executive Director: National Institute for Communicable Diseases -
Professor of Vaccinology, University of Witwatersrand
Director: MRC Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit
DST/NRF Research Chair: Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Dr. Clare Cutland is the Deputy Director at the Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit (RMPRU) based at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH), Soweto, South Africa. She qualified with a Bachelor in Science (B.Sc.) in 1993 and Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBCh) in 1997 from The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, South Africa. In July 2000, after completing a Diploma in Child Health (DCH), she joined RMPRU as a full time research doctor, under Professor Shabir Madhi. She has been a sub-
She was lead trialist on a grant-
The increasing proportion of under-
Dr. Cutland was the clinical lead for the grant-
Her current responsibilities include planning, implementation and management of clinical vaccine and epidemiological trials, mainly in paediatric and maternal participants, and preparation of research outputs from completed trials.
She has presented at local and international courses and conferences, and is contributing the World Health Organization and Brighton Collaboration activities on maternal immunization.
She is author or co-
Dr Clare Cutland
Dr Clare Cutland
MBBCH -
BSC -
PHD -
DCH -
Senior Researcher : Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Deputy Director: MRC Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit
Professor Shabir Madhi is the Executive Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Professor of Vaccinology and Director of the MRC Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at Wits. He also holds the position of DST/NRF SARChI Chair in Vaccine Preventable Diseases. Professor Madhi completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training at Wits, qualified as a paediatrician in 1996 and obtained his PhD in 2003.
He has been involved in research on vaccine-
Professor Madhi has contributed to over 250 peer reviewed articles in international journals, including six in the highest ranked medical journal globally, the New England Journal of Medicine. He received a number of awards for his research, including the ESPID Young Investigators Award (2006, the National Research Foundation President’s Award for Transformation of the Science Cohort (2009), the T W Kambule NRF-
He was also recognised as an A-
Dr Marta C Nunes is a senior scientist at the Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit (RMPRU) based at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto, South Africa. Marta developed her PhD thesis work in Prof S Goldman's laboratory at the Department of Neurology & Neuroscience, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, USA and obtained her PhD from the University of Lisbon, Medical College, Lisbon, Portugal in January 2004. During her PhD training she isolated and described a very unique multipotential neural progenitor cell population from the subcortical white matter of the adult human brain. These cells were known to give rise to oligodendrocytes, but Dr Nunes' work suggested that multiple fates can be elicited under defined culture conditions and after transplantation into animal models At the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, during her EMBO and Human Frontiers post-
Marta joined RMPRU in March 2009 and her research has been focused on reducing under-
A further focus of her research has been on the interaction of different putative pathogens on respiratory disease in children and the different manifestations in health and disease to these infections. This included the characterization of different respiratory viruses associated with hospitalizations in HIV-
To approach the problem of infant morbidity related to infections from a different angle she is exploring the potential of intervening through vaccination of pregnant women to protect the women and their babies against infections. This also includes the evaluation of the impact of preventing respiratory illnesses in pregnant women on reducing adverse birth outcomes such as premature birth, stillbirths and low-
Dr Marta Nunes
Dr Marta Nunes
Degree in Biochemistry -
PHD -
Senior Scientist : Vaccine Preventable Diseases
VPD/RMPRU
11th Floor Central West Wing
Nurses Residence
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital
Diepkloof, Soweto
Phone: 011 983 4283
Fax: 086 646 4208
E-
Dr. Portia Mutevedzi is a senior epidemiologist at the MRC Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit based at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto, South Africa.
She holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health from University College London in United Kingdom; an MSc (Medicine): Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Witwatersrand and BSc (Honors) Biological Sciences. She is an epidemiologist with over 15 years’ experience in public health and infectious disease research and has extensive experience in leading infectious disease research and surveillance systems at local and national level.
She has been involved in a number of international expert committees including the WHO expert committee on development of public health emergency operations centers, WHO-
Initially her research focused on HIV and TB with a special emphasis on the interaction of HIV, TB and chronic morbidity in the older adult population. She then went on to lead the South Africa national surveillance system for notifiable medical conditions where she spearheaded the re-
Recently she transitioned to focus on paediatric research aimed at understanding morbidity and mortality causes and determining community and household dynamics influencing such morbidity and mortality. Aligned with this work she is principal investigator for the recent national population based survey that aimed to estimate vaccination coverage, within the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), across all districts in South Africa and to understand barriers to vaccination. She has co-
Dr Portia Mutevedzi
Dr Portia Mutevedzi
Bsc (Honors): Biological Sciences – University of Zimbabwe
Msc (Med) Epidemiology and Biostatistics – University of Witwatersrand
PhD: Epidemiology and Population Health -
Senior epidemiologist: MRC Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit
Dr Michelle Groome is a senior researcher at the Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit (RMPRU) based at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto, South Africa. She obtained her medical degree (MBBCh) at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1997 (cum laude) followed by a Diploma in Child Health from the College of Medicine, South Africa. She obtained a Master of Science in Medicine in the field of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2010 and her PhD in public health in 2016, both from the University of the Witwatersrand. She has been involved in clinical research for the past 12 years with a focus on infectious diseases, especially vaccine preventable diseases in children. Her main area of interest includes the epidemiology and prevention of enteric (diarrhoeal) infections in children, especially rotavirus and norovirus.
She has extensive experience in the conduct of clinical vaccine trials in the unit including trials assessing the immunogenicity and safety of Rotarix, immunogenicity of a pentavalent vaccine as well as a DTaP-
Currently she is a principal investigator on a rotavirus sentinel surveillance programme as well as an intussusception surveillance project which has been initiated across major hospitals in South Africa to evaluate safety of the oral rotavirus vaccine. She is the principal investigator on a Phase I/II study evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of a parenteral subunit rotavirus vaccine. She has experience in protocol development, study co-
Dr Groome was recently awarded a Career Development Award (K43) from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health. She has over 40 publications in local and international peer-
Dr Michelle Groome
Dr Michelle Groome
MBBCH -
Diploma : Child Health -
MSC -
PHD -
Senior Researcher : Vaccine Preventable Diseases
