Shabir Ahmed Madhi CBE | |
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 Madhi in 2017 | |
| Born | 1966 (age 58–59) |
| Education | University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg |
| Known for | Leading COVID-19 vaccine trials in South Africa |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
| Sub-specialties | Vaccinology |
Shabir Ahmed Madhi,CBE (born 1966) is a South African physician who is professor ofvaccinology and director of theSouth African Medical Research Council Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at theUniversity of the Witwatersrand, and National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology Research Chair in Vaccine Preventable Diseases. In January 2021, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Madhi was executive director of South Africa'sNational Institute for Communicable Diseases from 2011 to 2017, and has served on severalWHO committees in roles pertinent to vaccines andpneumonia. In 2018, he co-founded theAfrican Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE) and was appointed Chair of South Africa'sNational Advisory Group on Immunization (NAGI). His research has included studies on thepneumococcal conjugate vaccine androtavirus vaccine, and in pregnant women, theinfluenza andrespiratory syncytial virus vaccines.
Since the globalCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Madhi has been leadingCOVID-19 vaccine trials in South Africa, including the first in Africa. In 2021 he stated that the first and foremost method of ending COVID-19 in South Africa is to implement a mass vaccination programme.
Madhi was born in 1966.[1] His father was a teacher and mother a housewife.[2] Initially aspiring to becoming an engineer, he opted to accept a bursary to study medicine and was initially reluctant to persist with his medical education.[2] In 1990 he completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training at theUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and six years later, became a fellow of the College of Paediatrics (FCPaeds (SA)).[3] During this time, with encouragement fromGlenda Gray, he applied for a post under professorKeith Klugman, to work onvaccines for pneumonia.[2]
In 1998 he received a master's degree in medicine (paediatrics).[1] He gained his PhD in 2003.[1][3]
Madhi is professor of vaccinology and director of the South African Medical Research Council Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at theUniversity of the Witwatersrand, and National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology Research Chair in Vaccine Preventable Diseases.[3][4][5] These units have been rebranded as the MRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA).[6]
He was executive director of South Africa'sNational Institute for Communicable Diseases from 2011 to 2017, and has served on severalWHO committees in roles pertinent to vaccines and pneumonia.[3] In 2018, after spending four years as deputy-chair of South Africa'sNational Advisory Group on Immunization (NAGI), he became its chairperson.[3] In the same year he co-founded theAfrican Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE), based at the University of the Witwatersrand, with the aim of expanding expertise in vaccinology in Africa.[3] In January 2021, he became Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the Witwateratand.[7][8]
His research has included studies on thepneumococcal conjugate vaccine.[3][9][10] This research led to the WHO recommendations on the delivery of this vaccine inlow and middle-income countries.[3]
Madhi led the first study that showed that arotavirus vaccine could significantly preventsevere diarrhoea due torotavirus during the first year of life in African babies.[11] It was published inThe New England Journal of Medicine in 2010.[12] The paper provided one of the key pieces of evidence for the WHO recommendations of universal rotavirus vaccination.[3]
In pregnant women, he studied the effectiveness ofinfluenza andrespiratory syncytial virus vaccines.[3][9][10] He led one of the largest studies evaluating the immune response to influenza vaccination in pregnant women.[13] His work showed that the risk offlu halved in women given the flu vaccine. In addition, the risk to their newborns in the first 24 weeks of life was also reduced. The findings were presented at the 16th International Congress on Infectious Diseases and he reported that his "data support the recent WHO recommendation in terms of prioritizing pregnant women for influenza vaccination, not just for the protection of the mother, but protection of the infant as well".[14] Later, he became involved in the clinical development of avaccine against Group B streptococcus for pregnant women.[3]
Other research has involved assessing the efficacy of various drug regimens to preventtuberculosis (TB) in people with HIV.[15]
Since the globalCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he has been leadingCOVID-19 vaccine trials in South Africa, including theNovavax COVID-19 vaccine[16][17] and theOxford-AstraZeneca vaccine,[18][19] the first COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial in the continent of Africa.[20] Asserting that South Africa'ssecond wave in December 2020 is largely driven by mass gatherings and changing people's behaviour, rather than solely on thenew variant, he has called for a wider coverage of COVID-19 vaccination.[21] His co-authored publication on results of a large clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine suggest that the vaccine is safe and effective.[22] In 2021 he made it clear that the first and foremost method of ending COVID-19 in South Africa is to implement a mass vaccination programme.[23] On 1 January 2021 he tweeted "Ability of vaccines to impact on the pandemic is directly related to how soon you can get approx 50–60% of the population vaccinated."[23]
Since 2012, he has been considered an internationally recognised scientist with an A-rating by theSouth Africa's National Research Foundation.[3] In 2014 he received the Platinum Medal, South African Medical Research Council's life-time award. In 2016 he received the European Developing Clinical Trial Partnership Scientific Award.[3]
In 2023 he was made an HonoraryCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) fromBritish Government for services to science and public health in a global pandemic.[24]
Madhi has authored more than 350 publications between 1997 and 2018,[3] covering topics such as childhoodvaccines,pneumonia, severe infections in young children andvaccination in pregnancy.[25]
Authority control databases: Academics |
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