Prof Liesl Zühlke

Head: PROTEA

Faculty of Health Sciences

CHI research group: Partnerships for Children with Heart Disease in Africa (PROTEA) (Lead)
CHI membership: Full member

Prof. Liesl Zühlke is a paediatric cardiologist in the Division of Paediatric Cardiology at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and directs the Children’s Heart Disease Research Unit which focuses on family-centred research into children’s heart diseases of relevance in Africa. Her research projects span congenital and rheumatic heart disease, HIV in adolescents, grown-up congenital heart disease and cardiac disease in women of childbearing age. She currently leads, among others, the PROTEA study, “Partnerships for Children with Heart Disease in Africa”, which aims to describe the epidemiology and genetic origins of congenital heart disease in several countries in Africa. She Is NRF-rated, has over 130 publications and over 26 000 citations.

Prof. Zühlke was the 2018 recipient of the prestigious MRC/DfID African Research Leader Award, a finalist in the 22nd National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 Awards and is designated one of the top three scholars in rheumatic heart disease research worldwide. Internationally she serves as the President of Reach (Rheumatic Heart Disease, Evidence, Advocacy, Communication and Hope), a board member of the World Heart Federation, an international scientific advisory board of Children's Heart Link and Global ARCH and an executive member of SAVAC (Strep A Vaccine Global Consortium).

As the only womxn full Professor of Paediatric Cardiology in the country, she has achieved the highest leadership positions within cardiology in South Africa; President of the Paediatric Cardiac Society of South Africa, President of the South African Heart Association and currently chair of both the PANPACH (Paediatric and Congenital) and Rheumatic Heart Disease Task Forces of the Pan-African Society of Cardiology.

Research engagements:

  • Congenital Heart Disease
  • Rheumatic Heart Disease
  • Cardiac disease in women of childbearing age
  • Heart Disease associated with COVID-19/MIS-C
  • HIV-associated Heart Disease