Professor Mushi Matjila

Principal Investigator

Mushi Matjila is Professor and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. He has 15 years’ experience as Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at tertiary level Groote Schuur Hospital and has provided specialist and sub-specialist clinical services at Groote Schuur Maternity Centre, as well as trained specialists and sub- specialists and conducted undergraduate teaching during this period. His clinical interests are embedded in High-Risk Obstetrics, Reproductive Medicine and Recurrent Pregnancy Loss. He is the founding member, and first Chair of the Departmental Transformation Committee (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) and has previously served on the Faculty of Health Sciences Transformation Committee. He is current Chair of the Departmental Senior Leadership Executive Committee (SLE).

Professor Matjila’s research focuses on the molecular aspects of aberrant placentation, as well as maternal- fetal dialogue in placental-based disorders such as Preeclampsia, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Assisted Reproduction. In particular, his research focuses on the reproductive roles of kisspeptin and angiogenic factors on trophoblast invasion and maternal immune tolerance. He is Director and Principal Investigator of  Human African Molecular PLacental REsearch PlaTform (HAMLET), housed in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Groote Schuur Hospital. HAMLET aims to harness modern approaches and technologies to understand human placental development and function. Through HAMLET, we aim to forge a transdisciplinary intra-African network by training African basic science and clinical postgraduate students with the with the intent of improving maternal and perinatal health in South Africa and on the continent. He is also a member of the Receptor Biology Unit at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) at the University of Cape Town. Prof Matjila is current Chair of the Faculty Research Equipment Committee (FEC), member of University Equipment Committee (UEC) and Senate member of the University of Cape Town.

Prof Matjila has a Ministerial appointment as Chair of  the National Health Research Committee (NHRC)- the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Research for Health. He has served the previous NHRC as Chair of the Policy and Strategy Subcommittee of the NHRC and its Deputy Chair. He is serving a second term as Chair of the Academic Liaison Committee of the South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (SASOG) and is Senate Member of the Colleges of Medicines of South Africa (CMSA) and Council Member of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (COG). He has been involved in the organization of local and international conferences, including serving as Chair of the Abstract Committee for the World Congress of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) hosted in Cape Town.

He has served as Section Editor for BMC Women’s Health and is Reviewer for numerous journals, including the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology (EJOGRB), Biology of Reproduction (BOR) and Neuroendocrinology (NEN). Prof Matjila serves on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Global Reports (AJOG Global Reports).


Qualifications:

BSc-Biochemistry, Microbiology (UCT), MBChB (Natal), Dip OBS (SA), FCOG (SA), PhD (UCT)