Aspro Sanjay Lala

Sanjay Lala is a pediatric infectious diseases specialist based in South Africa, affiliated with the University of the Witwatersrand and the CHAMPS surveillance platform in Soweto. His work centers on improving cause-of-death attribution in children through postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling and advanced diagnostics, strengthening evidence for public health action in high-mortality settings.

Research focuses on under-five mortality in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with emphasis on pneumonia, meningitis, malnutrition, neural tube defects, and invasive Group B Streptococcus. Publications highlight the interplay between infection and malnutrition, antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, and the long-term health and economic burden of severe childhood infections.

A consistent theme is improving clinical quality of care, including diagnostic accuracy and adherence to treatment guidelines. By integrating pathology, microbiology, and clinical data, contributions have informed vaccine priorities, infection prevention strategies, and policy discussions aimed at reducing preventable child deaths in resource-limited settings.