Dr. Jeannette Wadula

Jeannette Wadula is a South African clinician-scientist in paediatric infectious diseases, affiliated with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the University of the Witwatersrand. Her work bridges clinical care, laboratory surveillance, and public health, with a strong focus on neonatal and childhood infections in resource-limited settings.

Her publications highlight expertise in antimicrobial resistance, neonatal sepsis, and hospital-acquired infections, including genomic analyses of multidrug-resistant pathogens and evaluation of novel antibiotic combinations. She has led and collaborated on antimicrobial stewardship initiatives and diagnostic validation studies that strengthen clinical decision-making in neonatal units.

Through major surveillance platforms such as CHAMPS and national pneumococcal surveillance, her research has clarified causes of child mortality, vaccine impact, and the burden of pneumonia and malaria. This body of work underscores a sustained commitment to improving infection prevention, treatment strategies, and child survival across Africa.