Stellenbosch professor wins Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award

Stellenbosch University immunologist Prof. Clive Gray has made significant strides in understanding the complex relationship between antiretroviral treatment and adverse birth outcomes, earning him the prestigious Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award bestowed on him on July 3, at the Brenthurst Library in Parktown.

The award, worth R2.5m, recognises his work on identifying a predictive marker of adverse birth events and their impact on maternal health.

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“Receiving this award is very meaningful. It’s recognition of the work that I and my research group have done over many years. That OMT [Oppenheimer Memorial Trust] acknowledges the importance of what we do is very gratifying and rewarding,” Gray said.

His research aims to uncover the effects of antiretroviral treatment on the growth of the placenta and its potential links to premature birth, low birth weight, and learning difficulties.

“Our work is niche, laboratory-based research using sophisticated techniques and tools. We need to know how diseases, such as HIV in pregnant women, interfere with the growth of the placenta and how this, in turn, impacts adverse birth outcomes and disrupts maternal health.

“These adverse outcomes have a devastating effect on South African society, where impaired child and maternal health is linked with deprived early childhood development.”

The research team has established a link between long-term antiretroviral treatment and premature birth; a finding that could have far-reaching implications for mother-child health.

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The fellowship will enable Gray to continue his research, focusing on establishing and validating his hypothesis that a specific molecule in the placenta is responsible for poor placental blood vessel formation, and potentially related to poor heart problems in the mother.

“I have over 25 years of experience in training students in immunology and laboratory techniques. I will use this award to train the next generation of scientific leaders while building a greater capacity to improve mother and child health,” he said.

This aspect of the project fulfils one of OMT’s aims – to build and strengthen South African academic research capabilities.

“The project is multidisciplinary, involving HIV clinicians, cardiologists, immunologists, virologists, and statisticians.”
The professor and teams from Stellenbosch University, as well as the University of Cape Town, will collaborate with the University of Surrey, United Kingdom. An advisory board of academics from these universities will oversee the project’s governance and scientific direction.

Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences dean Prof. Elmi Muller said,
“Prof. Clive Gray’s seminal research in HIV immunology represents a pinnacle of scientific accomplishment on the African continent, offering a beacon of hope for mothers and children impacted by HIV.

“The prestigious Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award conferred upon Prof. Gray stands as validation of the substantive contributions he has made to the field of HIV science throughout his distinguished career.”

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