Shabir Madhi is the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He also holds the position of Director of the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA) and is co-Director of the African Leadership Initiative for Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE).

He is an internationally recognised for his research on vaccines against life threatening disease in childhood, including against respiratory pathogens, as well as vaccines in pregnant women and people living with HIV. His research includes contributing to clinical development of vaccines against pneumococcus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus, rotavirus, Group B streptococcus and Covid-19.