Prof Lee Fairlie is the Director of Maternal and Child Health at Wits RHI. She obtained the MBChB qualification from the University of Cape Town in 1997 and a paediatric specialisation (FC Paeds SA) from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2005. She has worked as a paediatrician in the HIV and infectious diseases field (specifically tuberculosis) since 2006. Prof Fairlie conducts clinical trials, implementation science research and clinical work, and provides technical assistance and programmatic work to strengthen health care for women, children and adolescents living with HIV or accessing HIV prevention.
The clinical and research work that she leads focuses on HIV treatment and prevention, TB and other vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly in maternal populations, children and adolescents. More recently, she has been involved in COVID-19 work, including vaccines in adults and sero-surveillance in maternal populations. Prof Fairlie is a member of the IMPAACT Treatment Scientific Committee and several IMPAACT protocol teams. She is also the co-chair of MTN 042/DELIVER, and co-leads the Ubomi Buhle Pregnancy Register with Dr Ushma Mehta. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed publications in her fields of interest and received an award from the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences in recognition of her dedication and achievement in research.