Professor Mark Hatherill is Director and leader of the clinical research team of the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI), a University of Cape Town TB research centre with a 110-strong clinical and immunology laboratory research team. A UCT medical graduate, he trained as a pediatrician and critical care sub-specialist and obtained his doctoral degree in pathophysiology of paediatric septic shock. His research since 2005 has focused on TB and he has led multiple studies of TB therapeutics, diagnostics, and novel vaccines. SATVI has conducted 23 clinical trials of 9 novel TB vaccine candidates in more than 3,000 participants at their Worcester research site, in parallel with epidemiological and immunological studies of TB risk and prevention in more than 20,000 infants, adolescents, and adults. Prof Hatherill has played a lead role in two pivotal clinical trials of BCG revaccination for prevention of M.tuberculosis infection in adolescents; and of M72/ASO1E vaccine for prevention of progression to TB disease in adults. He is a member of the WHO IVR Working Group on TB Vaccines and Co-Chair of the Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT) South Africa consortium. His current work focuses on the design and implementation of clinical trials of novel TB vaccines and biomarker-targeted TB prevention.
