Dr. Kerrigan Mccarthy

Kerrigan McCarthy is a South African public health specialist whose work centers on vaccine safety, pharmacovigilance, and environmental surveillance. Affiliated with national public health institutions in South Africa, she has played a visible role in strengthening surveillance systems during the COVID-19 pandemic and advancing continent-wide collaboration through the African Union Smart Safety Surveillance initiative.

Her publications highlight leadership in evaluating adverse events following immunisation, signal detection methodologies, and integration of multi-country safety data. This work has reinforced regulatory decision-making, improved causality assessment processes, and addressed underreporting and system fragmentation in lower- and middle-income settings, contributing to more resilient immunisation programmes.

A parallel research stream focuses on wastewater-based epidemiology as a complementary surveillance tool. By demonstrating how environmental data can offset socioeconomic biases in clinical testing, her studies have informed sentinel surveillance models and real-time public dashboards. Additional contributions in polio immunity gaps and immunodeficiency-related vaccine complications reflect a sustained commitment to infectious disease control and equity-driven public health innovation.