Professor Mark Hatherill

South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative

Affiliations

  1. Full Member, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine
  2. Director of the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI)
  3. Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town.

Key Expertise

Tuberculosis

Main Research Focus

SATVI is a world leader in TB vaccine clinical research. Their mission is the development of new and effective vaccination strategies against tuberculosis (TB). They are testing multiple new vaccine candidates in clinical trials; and are involved with projects to address critical clinical, epidemiological, immunological and human genetic questions in TB vaccine development. The initiative's activities are within an academic context, and include the training of postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

The team of over 100 staff consists of specialists in clinical, epidemiological, human genetic and immunologic science, clinical trials, community liaison, recruitment and follow-up; data management and analysis, disease surveillance, information technology, clinical evaluation and care of participants; facility management, laboratory technology, logistics, research pharmacy management, project management, regulatory affairs, administration, study coordination and training.

Mark's clinical research interests have focused on design, implementation, and analysis of clinical trials of BCG vaccine and novel TB vaccine candidates; TB diagnostic studies of infection and disease in adult and paediatric study populations; TB therapeutic clinical trials; and the application of biomarkers and novel tools for TB screening.

Most Significant Paper Authored in 2024

Classification of early tuberculosis states to guide research for improved care and prevention: An international Delphi consensus exercise.

Coussens, A. K., Zaidi, S. M. A., Allwood, B. W., Dewan, P. K., Gray, G., Kohli, M., Kredo, T., Marais, B. J., Marks, G. B., Martinez, L., Ruhwald, M., Scriba, T. J., Seddon, J. A., Tisile, P., Warner, D. F., Wilkinson, R. J., Esmail, H., Houben, R. M. G. J., & the International Consensus for Early TB (ICE-TB) group. (2024).


Cousins et al provides a conceptual framework for classification of TB phenotypes beyond symptomatic disease, including asymptomatic TB, which may be an important driver of transmission and morbidity. Prevention of asymptomatic TB by vaccination may be important for control of the global epidemic.