Professor Helen Rees is the founder and executive director of Wits RHI, the largest research institute at Wits University. Helen is internationally recognized as an award-winning global health practitioner who has dedicated her professional career to improving public health in Africa, with a focus on vaccine preventable diseases, HIV and sexual and reproductive health. Helen chairs the World Health Organization’s AFRO Region Immunization Technical Advisory Group and is the co-director of the Wits African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise Flagship program. Helen 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, and has served on expert structures and committees for WHO, UNAIDS, UNICEF, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, and BMGF.

Helen has served in the capacity of board chair of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) since its inception in 2018. SAHPRA provides regulatory oversight of medicines and biologicals, complementary medicines, medical devices and diagnostics, and radiation control of relevant medical devices. She previously served two terms as chair of SAHPRA’s forerunner, the SA Medicines Control Council (MCC) and was chair of MCC’s Clinical Trials Committee and a member of MCC’s Clinical Committee. She has chaired several WHO Regulatory Expert Committees including WHO consultations on Regulatory Pathways for Public Health Emergencies. She chaired the Regulatory Committee of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) shortly after CEPI’s establishment. She has extensive knowledge of the regulatory-ethical interface having been a member of the South African Ministerial Research Ethics Committee and co-author of South Africa’s first Good Clinical Practice Guidelines and Research Ethics Guidelines.

Helen has chaired WHO expert committees on HIV vaccines and HPV vaccines, and currently co-chairs the WHO’s HIV Vaccine and Monoclonal Antibody Technical Committee. She chairs the WHO’s IHR Polio Emergency Committee. She is the co-chair of the WHO Committee developing the allocation framework for the RTS,S malaria vaccine and recently chaired the UNICEF-WHO Procurement Reference Group deciding on the purchasing framework for the pneumococcal vaccine. She is co-chair of the WHO Evidence Considerations for Vaccine Policy Development Advisory Group. Helen currently chairs the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) Programme and Policy Committee and serves on the GAVI board.

Helen has extensive involvement in national, regional, and global response efforts to COVID-19 including the development of COVID-19 vaccines, their potential rollout, and utilization. She is a member of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 and a member of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 vaccines. She is involved with the oversight of the COVAX facility that GAVI, CEPI, and WHO are jointly driving. She is a member of the COVAX committee on COVID-19 maternal immunization and a member of the WHO IHR Emergency Committee on COVID-19, member of the WHO Expert Committee on COVID-19 vaccines, and a member of WHO’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards.

Helen has received many national and international awards for her contribution to African and global health, including being made an Officer of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her contribution to global health, being awarded the Order of the Baobab, one of South Africa’s highest honours, and for her contributions to maternal and child health. Her most recent accolades include being awarded the L’ordre national du Mérite (National Order of Merit) by the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, in recognition of her groundbreaking and outstanding medical career in February 2022, and the South African Ministerial COVID-19 Special Award in the Platinum Category at the National Batho Pele Excellence Awards.