Charles Shey Wiysonge

Director, Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council
Charles Shey Wiysonge is the Director of Cochrane South Africa, a research unit of the South African Medical Research Council, and one of 15 Cochrane Centres wordwide.
Charles Shey Wiysonge is also a Professor of Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He previously served as Deputy Director of the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care at Stellenbosch University; Project Manager of the Vaccines for Africa Initiative and Chief Research Officer at the University of Cape Town, South Africa; Research Officer at UNAIDS, Geneva; and Deputy Director, Expanded Programme on Immunisation, Cameroon.
Professor Wiysonge was educated at the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon (MD); the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (MPhil); and the University of Cape Town (PhD). He also undertook postgraduate non-degree training at the UK Cochrane Centre and the University of Oxford, UK. He is a Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.
Professor Wiysonge is a member of the African Task Force on Immunisation; the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE); the SAGE Working Group on Ebola Vaccines and Vaccination; the Independent Review Committee of The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi); and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Working Group. In addition, Professor Wiysonge is an executive committee member of the GREAT (Guideline‐driven, Research priorities, Evidence synthesis, Application of evidence, and Transfer of knowledge) Network; and an advisor to the Supporting National Independent Immunisation and Vaccine Advisory Committees (SIVAC) Initiative.
Professor Wiysonge’s research interests include immunisation programmes, vaccine-preventable diseases, health system strengthening, and knowledge translation / implementation science.