Page 72 - SAMRC AnnualReport 2025-26

Key Milestones and Achievements

A major focus of the Unit has been the prevention of
lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) to reduce
child mortality, morbidity, and adverse long-term
health outcomes. Findings from the 2025/2026
period contributed to the development of new
interventions to prevent paediatric illness.

A key area of research has been RSV prevention
in infants through maternal immunisation and
long-acting monoclonal antibodies (RSV-LAmAb).
Findings published in two separate articles in the
New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), with the Laboratory Platforms.
Unit Director as first author, demonstrated very high
efficacy of RSV-LAmAb in preventing hospitalisation
and LRTIs among both healthy infants and those
with underlying comorbidities. Updated analyses
of maternal RSV immunisation also showed high
efficacy, particularly against severe disease, while
providing reassuring safety data.
Research from the DCHS has further demonstrated
that early-life LRTIs can have lasting effects on
health by establishing developmental trajectories
associated with impaired lung function. In
childhood TB, significant progress was made in
improving diagnosis through biomarker-based
molecular testing, evaluation of WHO treatment
decision algorithms, and the development of
artificial intelligence (AI) and imaging platforms for
chest X-ray interpretation and point-of-care testing. Infant Lung Function, Tidal Breathing.

The Unit also continues to contribute to several
global analyses of disease burden, including RSV
and influenza, as well as studies investigating risk
factors and mechanisms of disease development
through transcriptomic, epigenetic, and
inflammatory profiling.

During the 2025/2026 reporting period, the
Unit published peer-reviewed scientific articles,
including several in high-impact journals, notably in
NEJM and publications within The Lancet family of
journals.

Building Capacity Through
Training, Mentorship, and Support

The Unit's research activities have included substantial
technology transfer, skills development, training, and A major focus of the Unit has been the
support for postgraduate students. Graduates and prevention of lower respiratory tract infections
trainees continue to make important contributions to to reduce child mortality, morbidity, and
child and maternal health across clinical, public health, adverse longterm health outcomes.
and laboratory science disciplines.

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