Jennifer Kate van Heerden

I am a Clinical Research Fellow at the Malaria Vaccine Programme. My role is to provide medical oversight to study participants and to contribute to the design and delivery of clinical trials within our research group. Our clinical studies assess the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of blood-stage malaria vaccine candidates and often involve Controlled Human Malaria Infection (CHMI) challenges. 

After completing my medical degree at Stellenbosch University in 2019, I worked in both clinical and research settings within South Africa. With an interest in infectious diseases and pulmonology, my previous research has focused on HIV, tuberculosis (TB), post-TB lung disease and COVID-19. I also hold a Diploma in HIV management from the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. In 2023, after working for the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa) in Cape Town, I moved to Oxford University where I completed my MSc in Integrated Immunology at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences.