Professor WD Francois Venter

MD, FCP, PhD is the Head of Ezintsha at Wits.

He leads multiple antiretroviral treatment optimisation studies and is currently working on new access programmes through private pharmacies within South Africa. For over 20 years he has been an advisor to bodies such as the South African government, UNAIDS, and WHO, contributing to international, regional, and national HIV guidelines.

A a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee for COVID-19, He supervises a large number of Masters and PhD projects. Recent work has included publications in Lancet HIV, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, AIDS, and PLOS Medicine.

Dr Jurgens Staats

MBBCh, MFAMMED, BLS, ACLS, ACLS EP, BLS instructor, Advance Cardiac Life Support Instructor, and ITLS, is a Family Physician, working in the Matlosana Subdistrict (Klerksdorp).

He is the course director of the Rural Life Support course, which is offered in the North West Province. In addition, he is an Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) instructor.

With additional qualifications like Diplomas in anaesthetics and allergology, he offers a variety of competencies that are relevant to emergency medicine.

Dr Amy Booth

MBChB, DPhil Candidate, youngest member -HHS, Partner Member at Rhodes Incubator, part of GTC, selected SDG Impact Lab Fellow and part of UK Young Academy member – United Kingdom.

A trained medical doctor, having graduated summa cum laude and gold medalist, with registration to practice in the United Kingdom and South Africa. I am a Rhodes Scholar, currently completing a DPhil at the University of Oxford exploring the impact of health systems, particularly the pharmaceutical supply chain, on climate change. I have experience in research and previously worked with the World Health Organisation.  My interests lie in climate change, environmental sustainability, public health and health activism, consulting, innovation and research.

Prof Priya Soma-Pillay

Professor and Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chair of the School of Medicine at the University of Pretoria and Steve Biko Academic Hospital. Priya is a maternal and fetal medicine sub-specialist and completed her PhD in 2018.

She has a special interest in managing high-risk pregnancies, particularly with cardiac and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Her research interests include preventing preterm birth.  She is a member of the global NIHR-funded PRIME research study group. Priya served as a member of the South African National Committee for the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Death from 2011-2020 and was the chapter head for “Deaths due to medical disease in pregnancy.” She is the president of the College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of South Africa, a member of senate of the College of Medicine of South Africa, immediate past honorary secretary of the South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (SASOG) and member of the
International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Council. She serves on the FIGO Preterm Birth Committee

 Adv. Omashani Naidoo

Qualification: B.Proc (University of Natal- Durban, 1997), LLB (University of Natal, Durban, 1998) and Masters in Child Care and Protection (University of Kwa Zulu Natal, Durban, 2013).

Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecution, National Prosecuting Authority, Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit.  Commenced legal career as a Public Prosecutor in 1999.  Has prosecuted in the Lower and High Court of South Africa, serious and violent crime, including crimes of sexual offences.  The operational manager of four Thuthuzela Care Centres  and part of a national team responsible for the compilation of training material on The Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act 32 of 2007 and the trains prosecutors throughout the country on the above-mentioned Act. Adv. Naidoo also trains stakeholders, police, social workers, medical officers, psychologists and educators on the laws relating to sexual and gender-based violence. She also contributes towards research and development of policy and legislation relating to gender-based violence and femicide and she has also presented on issues relating to GBVF at national and international conferences.

Prof. Shabir Moosa: MMed, MBA, PhD

Head of Clinical Unit: Family Medicine, Johannesburg Health District, Associate Professor, University of Witwatersrand South Africa, Past-Executive Coordinator of African Forum for PHC (AfroPHC) Member at Large, World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) 

Prof Shabir Moosa is a family physician with an MBA and PhD. He supervises all doctors in public service clinics of Johannesburg and is a professor at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He has extensive experience in rural general practice and the development of family medicine and primary care services in both rural and urban district health services in South Africa and Africa. Shabir is involved in development and research around family medicine, community-oriented primary health care (COPC) and health management for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa. He is Member at Large in the Executive Committee of WONCA (World Organisation of Family Doctors), and past Executive Coordinator of AfroPHC, the African Forum for Primary Health Care (PHC), bringing African PHC team leaders together to advocate for PHC and UHC.

Prof. Haroon Saloojee

MBBCh, FCPaed (SA) MSc (Med)Child Health, Subspecialist in Community Paediatrics (HPCSA) Personal Professor and Head: Division of Community Paediatrics at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South African and a neonatologist at the Christ Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto.

Prof Haroon Saloojee serves on two South African ministerial committees – one on immunisation and another on child mortality and morbidity.  He offers technical support to various World Health Organization maternal and child health committees. Served on various boards, Starfish Greathearts Foundation, Soul City Institute [Chairman], National Health Laboratory Service, Boston Consultancy Group Foundation and Medicins Sans Frontier South Africa.  Treasurer SA Child Health Priorities Association, Senator at Colleges of Medicine of SA and Executive member, South Africa Paediatric Association and Chairperson in 2016-2018.