Helen Rees
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Professor Helen Rees
Early life and education
Rees obtained her Medical Degree and Masters in Social and Political Sciences from New Hall College (now
Rees is an alumnus of Harvard Business School having completed the HBS Senior Executive Programme for Southern Africa.
Career
Rees is internationally recognised as an award-winning global health practitioner who has dedicated her professional career to improving public health in Africa, with a focus on HIV, vaccine preventable diseases, women's health and medicines regulation.
Rees has also chaired over 100 national and international scientific and policy committees, has over 250 [7] scientific academic publications,[8] has delivered over 400 invited plenary and keynote addresses, and contributed to the organisation of more than 100 conferences.
Committees and advisory work
Rees has served on and chaired many national and global scientific committees and boards and is widely respected for her ability to synthesize recommendations from multifaceted inputs and to link research to policy and has successfully chaired many national, regional and global committees in deliberations that have changed key strategies and policies in the African region. Rees has led national consultations at the invitation of the Ministries of Health in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is a keen advocate for increasing research capacity in LMICs.
Rees has served on expert structures and committees for WHO, UNAIDS, UNICEF, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She was the Chair of the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization[9] and she now chairs the WHO's African Regional Technical Advisory Group on Immunization.
Rees is recognised as a leader in global health policy and security. She has served on and chaired a number of WHO International Health Regulation (IHR) Emergency Committees. She is the Chair of WHO's IHR Emergency Committee on Polio. She co-Chairs the SAGE working group on Ebola Vaccines[10] and is a member of WHO's Scientific and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards. She is a steering committee member of the Coalition for Clinical Research for Pandemics that focuses on research priorities in low- and middle-income countries. From 2015 to 2016, she was a member of the Review Committee on the Role of the International Health Regulations (2005) in the Ebola Outbreak and Response tasked with making recommendations to WHO about steps required to improve the global response to public health emergencies. She was the Chair of the WHO SAGE Committee on the Use of Vaccines in Humanitarian Emergencies.
In the field of vaccines and epidemics Rees chairs the Gavi Vaccine Investment Strategy that is developing a priority list for procurement of vaccines between 2025 and 2030 for the world's poorest 71 countries.
Other activities
Government organizations
- South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), Chair of the Board[11][12][13]
Non-profit organizations
- MedAccess, Chair of the Board (since 2022)[14]
- Coalition for Equitable ResearCh in Low-resource sEttings (CERCLE), Member of the Steering Committee[15]
Recognition
Honours
Rees has won many international and national awards for her contribution to global health and to science, specifically in 2001 receiving the
Awards
In 2015, Rees was awarded the National Science and Technology Foundations’ Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the
Honorary degrees
Rees holds a Doctor of Science (Medicine) honoris causa from the University of London and a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Rhodes University, South Africa.
References
- ^ "Prof Helen Rees: The Order of the Baobab in Silver". www.thepresidency.gov.za. 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Rhodes University honours global health researcher Professor Helen Rees". www.ru.ac.za. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Wits ALIVE Consortium Members". www.witsalive.co.za. 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Professor Helen Rees, Honorary Fellow, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge University, UK". www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Huisman, Bienne (21 November 2022). "Face to Face: Prof Helen Rees on SAHPRA, women's rights, and her appetite for justice". Spotlight. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- New York Times.
- ^ "Research Gate: Helen Rees". ResearchGate. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Google Scholar Helen Rees Citations". Google Scholar Helen Rees. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE)". World Health Organisation Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Andrew Ward (9 January 2015), Two Ebola vaccines given go-ahead for trials in west Africa Financial Times.
- ^ "SAHPRA Board". South African Health Products Regulatory Authority. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Board South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA).
- ^ David Pilling and Joseph Cotterill (9 February 2021), South Africa forced to overhaul vaccine plan over variant fears Financial Times.
- ^ "MedAccess Board". MedAccess. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Steering Committee Coalition for Equitable ResearCh in Low-resource sEttings (CERCLE).
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
- ^ "Prof Helen Rees". The Presidency, Republic of South Africa. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Child, Katherine (9 April 2020). "Helen Rees: The prof leading SA's Covid-19 drug trial". Financial Mail. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Standout voices in African public health". harvardpublichealth.org. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Blaine, Sue (13 September 2023). "Helen Rees awarded R1.5m Oppenheimer fellowship". Business Live. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
External links
- Helen Rees publications indexed by Google Scholar
- Publications by Helen Rees at ResearchGate
- Schultz, Debbi. The activist changing health policy on global scale. Mail & Guardian. 10 July 2015.