Marta Nunes

Senior researcher at the Vaccine Preventable Diseases Unit/Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit (RMPRU), South Africa

Marta Nunes is a mid-career infectious disease and vaccine focused epidemiologist who has spent the past 10 years living and working in South Africa.

Her research at RMPRU has been focused on reducing under-5 childhood morbidity and mortality from leading causes of death. This includes evaluation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in a high HIV-burden setting, epidemiology of respiratory viral associated-pneumonia, and the impact of vaccination during pregnancy on the fetus and newborn.

In addition to these areas of expertise, Dr Nunes also has expertise in influenza vaccine, pertussis vaccine and in quantifying the full public health value of vaccines including implementation issues. From a policy and implementation perspective she has collaborated with the South African Department of Health and the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

She has served as a technical consultant for the WHO and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on maternal immunisation. She serves as a member of the African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE), an initiative at the University of the Witwatersrand with the objective of building vaccinology expertise in Africa and fostering South-to-South collaborations.

She has been involved in developing vaccinology expertise on the African continent, by way of mentoring post-graduate students at the Masters and Doctorate level, and by being involved in the establishment of the first Advanced Vaccinology Course in Africa (Afro-ADVAC), first held in 2016.