BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Globally renowned for her work on asthma in children, UKZN’s Professor Refiloe Masekela (@bronchigirl) 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 more than R45 million over a five-year period – will fund research on avoidable morbidity from asthma in African children.
Masekela, who is a paediatric pulmonologist and Head of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University, is the first researcher based in a low- and middle-income country as well as the first Black African woman to receive the award.
Her research aims to improve access to effective and affordable asthma care for children in Africa. ‘Asthma affects one in 10 children globally and is the most common non-communicable disease (NCD) in children and adolescents,’ said Masekela. ‘Sadly, in Africa asthma is largely neglected with children suffering severe morbidity from the condition. Insufficient access to a diagnosis of asthma and to quality assured cost-effective medicines are key gaps in asthma care.’
The award will also fund three doctoral candidates in clinical as well as health economics research and develop a Pan African respiratory NCD repository. ‘I aim to create an African asthma observatory to determine the prevalence and risk factors involved in 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.
Masekela has held various leadership positions in local and international thoracic societies, including being Vice-Chairperson of the Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS) where part of the mission is to highlight issues around lung health in Africa and to guide policy in various countries on the continent.
Masekela is the current Director of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research (MECOR) Africa programme which is a research methodology programme run by the Pan African Thoracic Society, providing training on operational and clinical lung research for trainees from all over Africa. She has trained more than 450 candidates from more than 20 countries.
Also, a member of the ATS Paediatric Global Health Group, through PATS MECOR she developed the African Women in Research Mentorship Programme.
Said Masekela: ‘The prestigious global health research professorship will provide a step-change in my career, establishing me as a global research leader. As the first female Black African to receive this award, I am humbled and excited. 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.’
Image and source: University of KwaZulu-Natal
