BioSketch
Professor Refiloe Masekela was the former Academic Head of Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and faculty member at the Africa Health Research Institute. Professor Refiloe Masekela is a distinguished paediatric pulmonologist with over 17 years of experience in lung health research.She is currently an NIHR Global Health Research Professor (2022–2027), with a primary research focus on pediatric asthma and lung physiological testing. Prof Masekela holds several prominent leadership roles on the global stage.She serves as Co-Chair of the Global Asthma Network and President of the Pan African Thoracic Society.
Additionally, she is the Co-Chair of the Federation of Respiratory Societies (FIRS) Lung Health Task Force Steering Committee. Her expertise is further recognised through her membership in key organizations, including: The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Scientific Committee, European Respiratory Society (ERS) Global Lung Initiative (GLI) Network Clinical Research Collaboration Committee, ERS Long Range Planning Committee for the Pediatrics Assembly, and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Ethics and Conflict of Interest Committee. At the national level, she serves as the President of the South African Thoracic Society.
Prof Masekela is a prolific researcher, having published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to eight book chapters on pediatric respiratory diseases. Her work has been featured in leading publications, including the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Monograph, the Global Asthma Report, Manson’s Textbook of Tropical Infectious Diseases, and Coovadia’s Textbook of Pediatrics and Child Health. She has successfully supervised and graduated 36 PhD and master’s students, demonstrating her commitment to mentoring the next generation of researchers.
Passionate about research capacity building in Africa, Prof Masekela co-directs the PATS-Methods in Epidemiological, Operational, and Clinical Research (MECOR) program, an initiative led by the American Thoracic Society. She is also a faculty member of the Virtual ATS International Pediatric Pulmonology Research Academy (VIPPRA) program and serves as a mentor and reviewer for the USAID-funded SMART4TB Early-Stage Investigator program.
Research Interests
- Bronchiectasis in children, lung physiological testing