Hoosen Jerry Coovadia

Professor Hoosen “Jerry” Coovadia is an internationally renowned and leading South African researcher in maternal and child health and has led ground-breaking research in mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He leads a programme of research on maternal, new born and child health, focusing on implementation of prevention of HIV transmission from mothers to their infants, maternal health and postnatal care of infants, integration of health delivery services and contributes to national and global policies on the delivery of effective child health services.
He holds the positions of Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health and Emeritus Victor Daitz Professor of HIV/AIDS Research, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and is Associate Scientific Director at CAPRISA.
Professor Coovadia is also a commissioner for the National Planning Commission for the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa
He was chairperson of the Mandela government’s first Commission on Maternal and Child Health to design appropriate policies for a new country, and was on a 3-person Commission to investigate the chronic problems at the University of Durban-Westville (Gautschi Commission).
He has published more than 327 papers on maternal child health in mostly international journals.