Internationally recognised for her outstanding work on asthma in children, Professor Refiloe Masekela, the head of paediatrics and child health at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) is the recipient of the distinguished National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Research Professorship award.
The NIHR’s flagship career development award, worth over R45 million over a five- year period, will fund research on avoidable morbidity from asthma in African children.
Professor Masekela, a paediatric pulmonologist, is the first researcher based in a low- and middle-income country to receive this award and the first black African woman.
Her research aims to improve access to effective and affordable asthma care for children in Africa.
“Asthma affects 1 in 10 children globally and is the most common non-communicable disease (NCD) in children and adolescents. Sadly, in Africa, it is largely neglected with children suffering severe morbidity from asthma. Lack of access to a diagnosis of asthma as well as poor access to quality assured cost-effective medicines are key gaps in asthma care,” said Professor Masekela.
The award will also fund three doctoral candidates in clinical as well as health economics research as well as develop a Pan African respiratory NCD repository.
Professor Masekela said she aimed to create an African Asthma Observatory to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for asthma in three African countries using validated methodologies.
“I will also conduct a study to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a pragmatic single inhaler-based approach to asthma management in children and adolescents in South Africa. My ultimate goal is that all children and adolescents with asthma in Africa should have equitable access to affordable and effective care,” she said.
Professor Masekela, who was delighted at receiving the award, said besides providing a step-change in her career, it would establish her as a global research leader.
“As the first female black African to receive this award, I am humbled and excited to embark on this journey. I am particularly pleased that this professorship includes funding for PhDs in both clinical research and health economics, as well as support costs for our wider team. This helps strengthen our research capacity in an area which has historically been under-resourced.”
