A/Professor John Lawrenson is the Head of the Paediatric Cardiology Service of the Western Cape, a cross platform unit serving patients at both the Red Cross Children’s and Tygerberg Hospitals. He initially trained as an adult cardiologist but later turned to paediatric cardiology for which he completed a Fellowship in Paediatric Cardiology at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. A/Prof Lawrenson now spends his time conducting research and looking after children with heart disease. His clinical and research interests include echocardiography, rheumatic heart disease, the epidemiology of congenital heart disease and the life-time management of patients with complex heart disease. He is the lead investigator of the IMHOTEP, INVICTUS and PROTEA studies at the Tygerberg Hospital site.
Dr Laylah Ryklief is a medical doctor and junior research medical officer, currently completing her Master's in Public Health in epidemiology and biostatistics. Laylah joined the team in July 2023, and has contributed to WHO AFRO collaboration, REACH and VALOR projects. Her responsibilities include conducting systematic reviews, supervising master's students and providing biostatistical support. 
Dr George Comitis completed diplomas in Child Health and Anaesthetics both in 1997, after which he undertook specialist training in paediatrics - graduating in 2004. He then went on to further subspecialise and graduated with a fellowship degree in paediatric cardiology from the College of Medicine of South Africa in 2010. He is the Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory at Red Cross Children’s Hospital and his primary clinical interests include echocardiography and multi-modality imaging. Dr Comitis is the co-lead investigator of the IMHOTEP study at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital site as well as an investigator on the PROTEA and LCZ studies.
Dr Barend Fourie completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees at the University of Pretoria in 2001. Following this he undertook training in general paediatrics at the University of Witwatersrand for which he received a fellowship degree from the College of Medicine of South Africa in 2010. Dr Fourie then went on to further subspecialise in paediatric cardiology at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, graduating in 2014. He is now a full-time consultant at Tygerberg Hospital and has specific clinical interests in cardiac catheterisation and multi-modality imaging. He is the co-lead investigator of the IMHOTEP, INVICTUS and PROTEA studies at the Tygerberg Hospital site.
Dr Lenise Swanson completed her diploma in Child Health and Development in 2006, after which she undertook her training as a general paediatrician at Tygerberg Hospital – graduating with a fellowship degree in paediatrics from the College Of Medicine of South Africa in 2012. During this time she also conducted a research project in the field of childhood nutrition for which she was awarded both an academic prize for research excellence and a Master of Medicine degree from Stellenbosch University in 2013. She has since completed her subspecialist training in Paediatric Cardiology at Red Cross Children’s Hospital in 2017 and joined the CHRDU on a part-time basis in the same year. Dr Swanson’s primary role within the unit is to provide the clinical data input required for the IQIC project as well as perform clinical duties.
Dr Thomas Aldersley is a medical doctor and senior research medical officer with over ten years of post-qualification clinical experience and formal training in epidemiology and biostatistics (MPH, distinction). He provide senior medical and regulatory oversight for complex paediatric cardiology research programmes, including investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials, multicentre registries, genomic studies, and digital health initiatives. He also supervises junior medical officers, postgraduate trainees, and research staff, and contribute to protocol development, ethics submissions, data governance, and strategic planning within CHDRU.

PN Hope-Kirsten Edwards is a professional nurse who completed her undergrad at University of Western Cape, and is currently completing her Masters in Public Health (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) at the University of Cape Town. Hope joined in the team in June 2023 as the team’s research nurse, primarily working on studies like IQIC, NURTURE, ERICA, and VALOR. Her responsibilities include participant enrolment, data extraction, coding and analysis, and various additional duties to support the research team.