Professor Salome Maswime

Head of Global Surgery, Director of Education

Salome Maswime is a Full Professor and the Head of the Global Surgery Division at the University of Cape Town; and an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. Salome Maswime is an accomplished clinician scientist and academic, well known for leading research on obstetric surgery and stillbirths. She is the Education Director for the Global Surgery academic programme at UCT, and a co-director of the DSine Africa NIH Research Hub. She is a global health expert and a pioneer on surgical systems, and a member of the Academy of Science South Africa.

She is the Chairperson of the Health Systems Trust Board, a Global Council member of LifeBox, the vice-President of the Women in Global Health South Africa; and the founder and President of the South African Clinician Scientists Society. She also serves as a board member of the Cancer Alliance,  Female Academic Leaders Fellowship and SHAWCO. She is a member of the FIGO Committee on Ethical Aspects of Human Reproduction, and was previously named a Next Einstein Fellow, and a World Economic Forum Young Scientist.

After qualifying as a medical doctor, she specialisd, and completed an MMED and PHD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She did a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She has a diploma in Project Management, a Certificate in Leading Organisations and Change from MIT, completed the Young Physician Leaders Programme with ESMT Graduate Business School in Berlin, and Certificate in Programme Management at UCT.

Professor Maswime has received numerous awards for her research contribution to maternal health, including the trailblazer and young achiever award from the President of South Africa in 2017. In 2020 she listed in Mail and Guardians 50 most powerful women in South Africa, in 2021she was named among 20 Young Shapers of the Future in Health and Medicine by Encyclopedia Brittanica, in 2022 won the Tumani Corrah Prize for Research Excellence.

Training

Medical school: MBChB, University of KwaZulu Natal

Postgraduate qualifications

  • FCOG(SA) CMSA
  • MMED(Obstetrics and Gynaecology) Wits
  • PhD(Obstetrics and Gynaecology) Wits

Further training

  • Certificate in project management, Varsity College
  • Leading organisations and change, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Postdoctoral fellowship, Harvard Medical School

Areas of interest

  • Caesarean sections and Obstetric Surgery
  • Surgical systems strengthening
  • Social justice, equity and diversity

Professional affiliations

Leadership

  • President of the South African Clinician Scientists Society
  • Vice President of Women in Global Health South Africa
  • World Economic Forum Young Scientist
  • Next Einstein Fellow