Professor Shabir Mahdi receives Scientific Leadership Award
On 7 November 2016, Professor Dr Shabir A. Mahdi (1966) received the EDCTP 2016 Award for Scientific Leadership. The award consists of a trophy and 10,000 euro. The award ceremony took place at the Eighth EDCTP Forum in Lusaka, Zambia. The award was presented by Dr Michael Makanga, EDCTP Executive Director.
Professor Shabir Mahdi (South Africa) is a clinical infectious disease epidemiologist and vaccinologist. His main research interests are the epidemiology and prevention through vaccination of the leading causes of infectious disease associated morbidity and mortality in children from low- and middle-income countries. In 2013, he received the Medical Research Council Life Time Award. He has 270 publications in international peer-reviewed journals.
Currently, Shabir Mahdi is Professor of Vaccinology and Director of the Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases of South Africa.
During the past 18 years, his research included investigations for vaccine epitopes against pneumococcus and Group B streptococcus, epidemiological studies on vaccine preventable diseases and clinical development of vaccines against neonatal sepsis, pneumonia and diarrhoeal disease. He has led pivotal trials on pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, rotavirus vaccine, maternal influenza vaccination and isoniazid prophylaxis in African HIV- exposed and HIV-unexposed children.
Scientific Leadership Award
The Scientific Leadership award recognises an excellent world-class scientist up to 50 years of age residing in Africa and working in research activities within the scope of the second EDCTP programme.