Wits RHI - A renowned multi- disciplinary African research institute

Wits RHI is a renowned multi-disciplinary African research institute that was established by Professor Helen Rees in 1994 to support the new South African (SA) government to formulate and implement new national policies around sexual and reproductive health.

As the largest research institute within the University of the Witwatersrand, Wits RHI addresses some of the greatest public health concerns affecting our region, focusing on HIV/TB, sexual and reproductive health, vaccine preventable diseases including COVID-19 and climate and health. The institute is a pioneer in multidisciplinary research as we offer responsive technical support and innovation in health services, community partnerships, evidence-based policy development and advocacy with national, regional, and global stakeholders.

Wits RHI is part of the Faculty of Health Sciences and is a UNAINDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS), World Health Organistaion (WHO) and South African Medical Research Council (MRC) collaborating centre as well as a United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) strategic partner. Under the leadership of Prof. Helen Rees, Wits RHI has participated in ground-breaking COVID-19 studies and intervention since the declaration of the pandemic. All our directors had spearheaded various COVID-19 projects and the institute played a key role in contributing and influencing local and global health policy. We lead and deliver high quality Research and Implementation projects that have placed us at the cutting edge of science and have resulted in the growth of the Institute and expanding on our footprint within the communities we serve.

Some of our recent highlights expanded from our COVID-19 portfolio: ChAdOx1nCoV, NOVAVAX, Ensemble and COVPN to pregnant women: Pfizer C4591015. We extended our COVID-19 surveillance and sero-survey studies from the general population: SAPRIN, EDCTP-COREP Household Transmission to include pregnant women: Pregnancy Surveillance study and as well as focussed on COVID-19 therapeutic studies: CROWN CORONATION, UNITY, WHO Solidarity and the Recovery Trial. In our HIV prevention portfolio, there was significant breakthrough with the approval of the long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). CAB-LA is the first longacting injection for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of HIV. This FDA approval was based on data from two of our multicenter studies, HPTN 083 and 084, that we led. Wits RHI was the recipient of a large PEPFAR-USAID grant, MATRIX. This focuses on research and development of new HIV prevention technologies to address the unmet needs of adolescent girls and young women, pregnant and breastfeeding women and key populations in SA. MOSAIC is a Wits RHI - USAID award, to expedite the access to a range of biomedical products that are safe, acceptable, and affordable.

This study has placed us in a unique position to significantly contribute to local and global evidence of current and future HIV prevention technologies along with collaborators from across Sub-Saharan Africa and globally. Another significant milestone grant that we achieved, was the expansion of our HIV care and treatment portfolio through the PEPFAR-CDC called GOPHELEGA. This grant is one of the largest implementation awards ever received by Wits RHI and the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits University. This grant provides Wits RHI with a great and unique platform to introduce new HIV technologies, implement HIV care and treatment services in support of the Department of Health and evaluate the impact of our services, science and technologies within the communities we serve. In our Climate and Health portfolio, Wits RHI successfully applied for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and European Union (EU) funding for HIGH Horizons HE2AT Centre, ENBEL and CHAMNHA studies to develop innovative systems to monitor and mitigate the impact of climate change on the health of vulnerable populations including pregnant women, infants and healthcare workers in Africa. With this funding, Wits RHI will be leaders in building capacity on data science and climate change as well as be a resource for climate change and health initiatives across the African continent and globally. Amongst all these major project achievements, Wits RHI’s leadership still excelled in receiving prestigious awards this year. Professor Helen Rees has received many awards including being made: Officer of the British Empire for contribution to global health; Officer of the British Empire for contribution to global health; Officer of the French National Order of Merit for contribution to global health and COVID-19; Receiving the prestigious Ministerial COVID-19 Special Award at the National Batho Pele Excellence Awards in the Platinum Category in recognition of her contributions to the COVID-19 pandemic. This accolade acknowledges and recognises her outstanding contributions to COVID-19 research for 2021/2022 and been made a Doctorate of Science by the University of London which is awarded annually to a ‘person of eminence and distinction’. Professor Sinead Delany – Moretlwe, Director of Research has been invited to CoChair a World Health Organisation (WHO) Pregnancy Therapeutics Group for a 3-year term. This group will focus on HIV, STI and HPV therapeutics. Professor Thesla Palanee – Phillips, Director of Clinical Trials, was acknowledged on her promotion and joint appointment to Affiliate Associate Professor with the University of Washington, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Seattle, USA. This is a monumental achievement in her career.