Helene-Mari van der Westhuizen

Helene-Mari grew up in South Africa and qualified as medical doctor at the University of Stellenbosch, graduating with distinction. She worked in the Eastern Cape, completing her internship in East London and then working at Zithulele hospital. At Oxford she is doing a DPhil in Primary Health Care under the supervision of Prof Chris Butler, Dr Sarah Tonkin-Crine, Prof Rodney Ehrlich and Prof Trish Greenhalgh with funding from the Rhodes scholarship.

Helene-Mari is passionate about ending the Tuberculosis pandemic –  the leading cause of death in South Africa and one of leading infectious disease killers globally. Her research is looking at reducing the spread of Tuberculosis in rural areas in South Africa. This includes studying infection control measures like face masks from a social science perspective. Helene-Mari has translated these findings to the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to evidence reviews, international guideline development and media engagement around the use of masks by the public.