Team Research Forum: Omicron – The South African Experience
Join the UC Davis Office of Research and the UC Davis School of Medicine in a discussion with Professor Shabir A. Madhi from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Director of the Vaccines & Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Dr. Madhi will share a unique insight and experience of the Omicron variant, having endured the South African wave as a researcher and physician.
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Shabir A. Madhi, M.B.B.C.H. (Wits), FCPaeds(SA), Ph.D.
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). He is an internationally recognised for his research on live saving vaccines against childhood pneumonia and diarrhea, which informed WHO recommendations on their use in low and middle income settings. He has also led studies on the clinical development of vaccines for pregnant women aimed at protection of mother-infant dyads. Most recently he led the first two COVID-19 vaccine studies being undertaken in Africa, and has been involved in multiple epidemiological studies on Covid-19 in South Africa. He has been widely complemented for his stance on Covid-19 in South Africa, where he is considered a trusted voice unafraid to speak truth to power.