Professor Liesl Zühlke inducted to the College of Fellows

The University of Cape Town (UCT) inducts permanent academic staff members into the prestigious College of Fellows each year as recognition for their original and distinguished academic work that deserves special acknowledgement. Being inducted into the UCT College of Fellows is among the highest accolades an academic staff member can receive.

Professor Zühlke is the leading paediatric cardiology clinician scientist in South Africa, the first paediatric cardiologist to achieve a PhD and the only woman full professor of paediatric cardiology in the country. She is an internationally recognised researcher in the fields of rheumatic and congenital heart disease (RHD and CHD) as well as in global health – with over 180 publications, more than 51 000 citations, 11 books and book chapters, and 25 postgraduate supervisions (19 graduated and six enrolled) across multiple disciplines.

She has led or been substantially involved in almost every major RHD research project and intervention since 2010 when she commenced her research work in this area. Her work in RHD spans basic science, clinical research and public health, resulting in significant new knowledge recognised globally. Most importantly, her research, work and impact have resulted in significant and substantial outcomes impacting the health of people: she was instrumental in the World Heart Federation guidelines to diagnose RHD in asymptomatic populations, now adopted across all countries; she published a report on the gaps in evidence-based interventions in RHD patients; and she was a substantial contributor to the passing of a landmark resolution against RHD by the World Health Organization in 2018, following the Addis Ababa communiqué in 2016.