Seven researchers awarded prestigious NIHR Global Health Professorships

The NIHR has today announced the latest researchers to become NIHR Global Research Professors.

The awardees are:

• Professor Moherndran Archary
• Professor Nelesh Govender
• Professor John Hurst
• Dr Euphemia Lindelwe Sibanda
• Professor Saeed Farooq
• Professor Sassy Molyneux
• Dr Chelsea Morroni

The NIHR Global Research Professorship scheme funds researchers to promote effective translation of research and to strengthen research leadership at the highest academic levels.

It funds research that aims to specifically and primarily benefit people in low and middle income countries (LMICs). The research must benefit people in countries eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA)

The researchers receive five-year awards which include funding for early-career research and support posts. They also receive access to a leadership and development programme.

The researchers’ projects covering a wide range of health and care issues such as:

• HIV and AIDS
• Chronic Respiratory Disease
• Sexual health
• Mental health
• Research practice

Since 2018, 19 people have been awarded a Global Research Professorship.

NIHR Academy Dean, Professor Waljit Dhillo said:

"I’m delighted to warmly welcome these seven exemplary researchers as the latest cohort of NIHR Global Research Professors.

"As leaders in their fields, these outstanding individuals will play a key role in improving the health and care of people around the world as well as developing early career researchers in their teams."

NIHR Director of the Global Health Research Programme, Professor Kara Hanson said:

"The Global Research Professorship is our flagship award. It funds researchers to translate discoveries into enhanced interventions, diagnoses and treatments. This year, our Global Research Professors are working across a range of pertinent areas including sexual health, HIV/AIDS, mental health and multi-morbidities.

"I look forward to seeing how their research progresses and the difference their research will make to communities across the world."

NIHR Global Research Professors and their research topics

• Professor Moherndran Archary, Paediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at the Africa Health Research Institute. His research topic is ‘ImpRoving outcomEs of inFants, chIldreN, and adolEscents with HIV (REFINE)’
• Professor Nelesh Govender, Clinical microbiologist and ID epidemiologist at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His research topic is ‘Refining Interventions to Reduce AIDS Mortality from Bacterial and Fungal Infections in Africa’
• Professor John Hurst, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at University College London. His research is on ‘Mitigating Chronic Respiratory Disease through the lens of Multi-Morbidity’.
• Dr Euphemia Lindelwe Sibanda, implementation science researcher at Centre for Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Research Zimbabwe (CeSHHAR Zimbabwe) and Reader at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Her research topic is ‘Mobile health (mHealth) supported self-care among tertiary education students in Zimbabwe’
• Professor Saeed Farooq, Professor of Psychiatry and Public Mental Health, School of Medicine Keele University, and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. His research topic is ‘Translating evidence for Early Intervention in Psychosis (TRANSLATE) in Low and Lower-Middle Countries (LMIC): Implementation and Evaluation’
• Professor Sassy Molyneux, Professor of Global Health at University of Oxford. Her topic is ‘Building fairer international research systems that minimise and manage moral distress’
• Dr Chelsea Morroni, Chancellor's Fellow in Global Sexual and Reproductive Health at the Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh and Research Associate, Botswana Harvard Health Partnership. Her research topic is ‘Improving Sexual Health in Pregnancy in Africa: a people-centred approach’