Helene-Mari van der Westhuizen
Bio Sketch
Dr Helene-Mari van der Westhuizen is a TB researcher and convenes postgraduate global health teaching at Oxford University on the Translational Health Sciences Master’s degree. She trained as a medical doctor in South Africa and completed her doctoral research at Oxford University using qualitative methods to examine TB prevention in rural, low-resource contexts. Her research on tuberculosis and COVID-19 prevention has been relied on for national and international policy and she has led evidence syntheses for the World Health Organisation on infection control. In 2022 she was awarded a fellowship in global health that focussed on linking pandemic preparedness policy with the routine provision of care. She is co-founder and vice-chair of the Board of the Tuberculosis advocacy organisation, TB Proof. From February 2024 she will be leading a realist review on participatory research methods, which complements TB Proof work in South Africa she collaborates on that focusses on TB stigma and policy implementation accountability.