The CHRU Team

Principal investigators (PIs)

Principal Investigator

Dr Noluthando Mwelase

Dr Noluthando Mwelase is a CHRU investigator in NIH and pharmaceutical-funded clinical trials with a core focus on HIV, HIV co-infections, HIV prevention, TB and COVID-19. She is committed to scientific research to improve the standard of treatment in poorly resourced settings. Her research includes the INSIGHT START study, ACTG neurology in HIV-positive participants, ART for the prevention of HIV, the treatment of advanced AIDS-associated Kaposi Sarcoma in resource-limited settings and the prevention of HIV-related TB. Dr Mwelase’s research also focuses on supporting those at the highest risk group of new HIV infections in South Africa, namely, adult girls and young women who account for more than half of CHRU’s clinical trial participants. She also participated as an investigator on clinical trials that tested the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. Dr Mwelwase is currently an A5343 protocol team member.

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Other members

Dr Tom Boyles

Dr Tom Boyles’ research interests relate to the improvement in care for patients with HIV and TB in resource-limited settings. He has worked as a clinician in South Africa, directly contributing to the care of people with HIV and TB. He worked on a rural HIV programme which led to over 50 citations. His key research interest has been around antibiotic resistance for the reduction in antibiotic usage and cost savings without compromising patient care. At CHRU he is the Principal Investigator for six randomised controlled trials across various infectious diseases. Dr Tom Boyles is a member of the International TB Meningitis Consortium, a previous associate editor of the International Journal of TB and Lung disease, and programme lead for the HIV section of the International Union Against TB and Lung Diseases. He is also interested in the spectrum of TB disease/infections and the use of phenotype to guide the intensity and duration of TB treatment. He has also collaborated with the Stanford Machine Learning Group to harness machine learning technologies to improve TB diagnostics. The Wits Health Consortium also awarded Dr Tom Boyles the Great Leap Forward Fellowship.

Dr Jaclyn Ann Bennet

Dr Jaclyn Ann Bennet is a Principal Investigator in HIV/TB research at the Clinical HIV Research Unit (CHRU). She joined CHRU after completing her community service at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital. She is a Sub-Investigator on various ACTG and commercial clinical trials and the Principal Investigator on a study investigating a second-line antiretroviral regimen. She was the Principal Investigator for the treatment of symptomatic non-hospitalized adults with COVID-19. Dr Bennet is interested in optimising research through the use of technology and is currently focused on combining technology and medical research to improve both the efficiency and accuracy of data collection.

Dr Carla Chibwesha

As a Principal Investigator at CHRU, Dr Chibwesha’s research is focused on improving the health and well-being of women and girls globally and by addressing the clinical and public health challenges of HPV and HIV. She is a South African national, US trained and board-certified obstetrician-gynaecologist and Associate Professor in the Division of Global Women’s Health at the University of North Carolina. She holds a visiting appointment at the University of the Witwatersrand and leads a research partnership between UNC Global Women’s Health, CHRU and Right to Care. This initiative promotes equitable breast and cervical cancer screening in South Africa. To date, their program has reached over 100,000 women across South Africa, many of whom are living with HIV. Dr Chibwesha is also the Principal Investigator for the AIDS Malignancy Consortium site at CHRU and protocol chair for the multi-country AMC 099/COVENANT cervical cancer prevention trial. She is actively engaged in training the next generation of women’s health researchers.

Dr Shakira Rajaram

Dr Shakira Rajaram is based at CHRU’s clinical research site at the King DinuZulu Hospital in Durban. Her research focus is on the clinical management and clinical research primarily within the fields of TB and HIV. Through her experience in protocol implementation and clinical research site management, she has played a key role in contributing to maintaining an overall healthy population both medically and socially in the eThekwini area. She is the Principal Investigator of several multi-drug resistant TB, extensively drug-resistant TB, and drug sensitive TB studies. Through collaboration with partners from the Global TB Alliance, Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), and USAID, her clinical trials have contributed to change in treatment modalities and guidelines globally. She is committed to scientific research to improve the standard of treatment in poorly resourced settings with a passion and interest about new novel platforms for implementing research and treatment.