Prof Ruan Kruger, PhD ISHF

North-West University, Potchefstroom, North West

Prof Ruan Kruger is a C1-rated researcher and the current President of the Childhood Hypertension Consortium of South Africa (CHCSA). He held the DSI-NRF SARChI Research Chair in the Early Detection and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Africa with a research focus on cardiovascular disease development in children and young adults. He serves on the Board of Directors of SA Heart® and the Board of the South African Hypertension Society (SAHS). He holds fellowship status with the International Society of Hypertension (ISHF), and serves on the ISH Membership and ISH Communications Committees and is involved in the International Pediatric Hypertension Association (IPHA). He leads several paediatric research studies in South Africa including the ExAMIN Youth SA study and contributes to global health awareness and educational campaigns to prevent hypertension and cardiovascular disease from young ages.

Prof Benedicta Nkeh-Chungag, PhD ISHF

Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, Eastern Cape

She is a Professor and Dean in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Chair of the Cardiometabolic Research Niche Area at the Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, Eastern Cape. Prof Nkeh-Chungag’s research focuses on exploring cardiovascular disease risk factors in people of African ancestry in an effort to determine the risk cardiovascular disease risk profile in this population. She is also involved in discovering medicinal plants that may be useful in managing some of these risk factors. She is an editorial board member of the journal: Clinical interventions in Aging.

Prof Rajendra Bhimma, MD

University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban

Prof Bhimma is Professor of Paediatrics, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), and Specialist Paediatric Nephrologist and Head of the Paediatric Nephrology Unit, at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Mayville, Durban.  He is Deputy Chair of the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and an member of the Higher Degrees and Academic Leadership Committees.  Serves as co-editor/academic editor of four peer-reviewed journals.  His main interest is in glomerular diseases and hypertension in children.

A/Prof Lebo Gafane-Matemane, PhD ISHF

North-West University, Potchefstroom, North West

Associate Professor Gafane-Matemane's research focuses on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and hypertension in populations of African ancestry, with interest in knowledge translation. She is a Fellow of the International Society of Hypertension (ISHF), where she is a member of the Mentorship and Training Committee. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Southern African Hypertension Society (SAHS) and as the secretary of the national committee for the International Union of Physiological Sciences (SANC-IUPS).

Prof Mignon McCulloch, MD

Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Rondebosch, Cape Town, Western Cape

Prof McCulloch is a full Professor & Head of Clinical Unit of Paediatric Nephrology and Solid Organ Transplantation at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital & Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town. She is Immediate Past-President IPTA (International Pediatric Transplant Association), SAPA(South African Paediatric Association) Executive, and the Saving Young Lives Steering Committee. Her other interests include Paediatric Nephrology and Care of Critically ill children specifically with AKI requiring all forms of dialysis in infants and children.

Prof Liesl Zühlke, MBCHB DCH FCPaeds Cert Card MPH FESC FACC MSc PhD

University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape

Prof Zühlke is a Paediatric Cardiologist and Director of the Children's Heart Disease Research Unit and a Professor of Paediatric Cardiology at Red Cross Children's Hospital. She is the acting Deputy Dean of Research at Faculty of Health Sciences. Her research focus is on Heart Disease acquired in Children, most specifically Congenital and Rheumatic Heart Disease. She is an ardent Global Health and Equity Advocate.

Prof Shane Norris, MD

University of the Witwatersrand, Soweto, Johannesburg

Prof Norris is a Research Professor within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Shane is the Director of the South African Medical Research Council’s Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit (DPHRU), and Director of the South African Department of Science and Technology and National Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Human Development (CoE-HUMAN). He is the President of the Africa Chapter of the International Society of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. Shane is also a professorial fellow at the Global Health Research Institute at the University of Southampton. Shane’s research focuses on life course epidemiology with a specific interest in the development of intergenerational-risk for non-communicable disease.

Prof Friedrich Thienemann, MD

Cape Heart Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape; University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland

Prof Thienemann is trained in internal medicine, infectious diseases, tropical medicine and global health at Charité University Hospital Berlin and the University of Cape Town. In 2009, he joined the Department of Medicine and Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town and served as an investigator of several EU, NIH and university-funded projects and successfully administered multi-national, multi-site clinical trials and cohort studies across Africa. He established the research group General Medicine & Global Health (GMGH). His work is on optimising the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, understanding the intersection of infectious and cardiovascular disease.

Prof Karen Petersen, MD

Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Adjunct Professor Karen Petersen is the Head of the division of Paediatric Nephrology at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and the Academic Head of the division at the University of the Witwatersrand. In addition to her clinical and academic role as a Paediatric Nephrologist, Prof Petersen is also involved in undergraduate and postgraduate training. Her nephrology interests are acute kidney injury, peritoneal dialysis, vasculitis, and posterior urethral valves.  

Prof Kotsedi Daniel Monyeki, PhD MPH

University of Limpopo, Polokwane, Limpopo

Prof Monyeki is a full professor in the Department of Physiology and Environmental Health, University of Limpopo. He has a background in kinesiology and physical education (human movement science). His research interests are in non-communicable diseases, physical activity, and epidemiology. He has been the principal investigator of the Ellisras Longitudinal Study (ELS) since 1996, which inaugurated a biannual international conference in 2017. The ELS project plays a pivotal role in creating awareness of chronic diseases and prevention among members of local communities.

Prof Rabia Johnson, PhD 

South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) 

Prof is a National Research Foundation (NRF) C2 rated scientist that has received her Ph.D. at Stellenbosch University (SU) in 2007 and completed a BA Honours in Business Management at the University of Lincoln in 2021. She is a Chief Specialist Scientist and Co-Deputy Director at Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform/ South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). She holds an extraordinary Senior Lecturer position within the Division of Medical Physiology, Department of Biomedical Science, Stellenbosch University. She is affiliated with SA Heart Association and has been appointed as an NRF Rating Specialist Committee Member, for the next 5 years, on the Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology (BIOC) panel.  She won the SAMRC Silver Merit Award in 2020 for her contribution in health research. In 2023 she won the Forbes Woman in Africa Academic Excellence award. Her main research niche is centred around diabetes and hypertension as cardiovascular insults. Her research group focuses on identifying novel cardioprotective therapies and on understanding the pathophysiology of diabetes-induced cardiovascular dysfunction. 

A/Prof Peter Nourse, MD

Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Rondebosch, Cape Town, Western Cape

Associate Professor Nourse is a Paediatric Nephrologist working at a busy children’s dialysis and transplant Centre at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. He was past chairman of the South African Paediatric Nephrology Society. A/Prof Nourse serves on a number of editorial boards for international journals. His main interest are in peritoneal dialysis and glomerular diseases.

A/Prof Xavier Gómez-Olivé , MD PhD

MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transition Research Unit, School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand 

Associate Professor F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé (Medical Doctor, PhD, Epidemiologist, Specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine) is the Associate Director of the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transition Research Unit, School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand. Prof. Gómez-Olivé leads the Research Office in the MRC/Wits Agincourt Research Unit where he is responsible for the scientific and administrative coordination and implementation of all research projects. His areas of interest comprise health systems research, the prevention and treatment of HIV, hypertension and mental health in adolescents and the health and well-being of adults and older population, especially in areas such as sleep disorders, multi-morbidity, non-communicable diseases, disability and frailty, HIV, COVID-19, and migration and health. 

A/Prof Lisa Ware, PhD

University of the Witwatersrand, Soweto, Johannesburg

A/Prof Lisa Ware is a Senior Researcher at the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development and an Associate Director of the Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, both at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her primary research focuses on the social determinants of hypertension throughout the life course.

Prof Landon Myer, MD

University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape

Prof Landon Myer is Director and Head of the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has training in social anthropology, clinical medicine and epidemiology. His research focuses on women's, maternal and child health in the context of HIV. He has lead multiple clinical and health systems studies investigating the health of HIV-infected women receiving ART during pregnancy and postpartum, as well as the health and development of HIV-exposed and -infected children and adolescents.

A/Prof Erika Jones, MD

Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, Western Cape

She is a member of the executive committee of the Southern African Hypertension Society and the current treasurer. She is also a member of the South African Renal Society, the International Society of Nephrology and the International Society of Hypertension, for which she is on the Communications committee. Her fields of research are the physiological management of hypertension, particularly resistant hypertension; adherence to antihypertensives; acute kidney injury; interventional nephrology; blood pressure control in Africa and the pathophysiology and genetics of hypertension in Africa.

Dr Aayesha Kholvadia, PhD

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Summerstrand campus, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape

Dr Kholvadia is a senior lecturer and acting HOD at the Department of Human Movement Science of the Nelson Mandela University. She is a researcher and academic with a focus on interdisciplinary therapeutic medicine and health and wellness promotion in special populations.

Dr Innocent Maposa, PhD

Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University

Dr Maposa is a Biostatistician with a PhD is Statistics (UWC, SA). He is a senior lecturer in the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University as well as a biostatistics consultant at Stellenbosch University. His research interests includes survey designs, survival analysis, joint modelling, infectious disease modelling, spatial epidemiological modelling and causal inference. He is a member of the Southern African Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA). 

Dr Patrick DMC Katoto, MD, MSC(ClinEPI), PhD

Cape Heart Institute, University of Cape Town, Western Cape

Dr Katoto is an epidemiologist and global health expert with more than ten years of working experience as a clinician, academic, and advisor for multiple public and private health agencies. He has worked on various projects of global health concern and produced evidence to inform decision making to address HIV, tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases, and HIV and tuberculosis in the context of household air pollution in resource-limited settings.

Dr Johannes Cronje, MD

Universitas, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein

Dr Cronje is a Paediatric Nephrologist at the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the Free State.

Dr Sandra Mukasa, MD

University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape

Dr Mukasa is a senior medical officer and has worked on single and multicentre studies and clinical trials and has been the lead site investigator since 2017. In 2019, she became the deputy director of the General Medicine & Global Health (GMGH) research group. 

Dr Jyoti Sharma , PhD

South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)

Dr. Sharma is a senior scientist at Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform in South African Medical Research Council. Her research focused on identifying and validating new population-specific molecular targets for disease prognosis, diagnosis, and novel therapeutic development. She has more than 12 years of post-Ph.D research experience that involved designing and coordinating multidisciplinary collaborative research projects to prevent non-communicable diseases such as obesity, cancer, and hypertension. She has published 21 research articles in peer-reviewed journals.