About us

The TB Think Tank (TB TT) was established in 2014 at the 4th South African TB Conference in an effort to strengthen the government’s programmatic TB response. TB TT is a national network of TB experts who advise the National Department of Health on evidence-based TB prevention and control policy and programmes, chaired by the Chief Director of the NDoH’s TB Cluster.
In addition to NDoH representatives, the TB TT consists of a wide range of TB and TB-HIV stakeholders, including public-sector health practitioners, researchers, implementing and donor organisations, civil society and private sector. Representatives from NDoH identify annual priorities for the TB TT, and members, through individual technical Task Teams, collectively prioritise key activities. The TB TT functions through an Executive Committee responsible for delivering its mission and mandate. A Secretariat manages the day-to-day activities and the administration of Task Teams. Each Task Team is responsible for the execution of specific work plans and enables broad-based stakeholder representation on the TB TT.

Vision

The Vision of the national TB Think Tank (TB TT) is a South Africa free from the burden of TB through driving evidence-based and innovative approaches to TB prevention and control policy and programming

Mission

To leverage the country’s TB expertise to advise on TB prevention and control policy and programming in order to advance the NDoH’s goal of reducing TB incidence and mortality in South Africa

Goals and Objectives

  • To collate, review, synthesize and evaluate evidence related to policy and implementation.
  • Specify and request evidence, and if necessary, research, to inform policy and implementation
  • Identify and prioritise research questions
  • Advise and assist the NDoH on policy and guideline development
  • Support NDoH on execution of TB TT recommendations

Outputs

  • Policy and guideline briefs to NDoH
  • Annual reports to stakeholders
  • Presentations at meetings and conferences
  • Publications in peer-reviewed journals

Membership

Our members include more than 120 representatives from the national and provincial Departments of Health, health care practitioners, local and international research and implementing institutions, academics, funders and technical agencies, private sector institutions, and civil society

Structure

The National TB Think Tank is structured with an Executive Committee (EXCO), the Secretariat, and Technical Task Teams which are aligned to national priority activities.

Executive Committee

Chair: N Ndjeka
Co-Chair: F Abdullah
Members: (Secretariat & Task Team Chairs)

Secretariat

The Aurum Institute
P Subrayen
N Nkosi
F Sathar

Finding Missing People with TB

Chair: L Connell
Co-Chairs: E N Ramarumo

Optimising Treatment Outcomes

Chair:  D Evans
Co-Chairs: L Davids

Data Systems & Innovation

Chair: P Subrayen
Co-Chair: G Tanna

TB Prevention

Chair: A Luabeya
Co-Chairs: N Mkhondo; D Goldberg

TB Epidemiology, Modelling & Health Economics

Chair: E Mohr-Holland
Co-Chairs: D Mudzengi

Child & Adolescent and Maternal TB

Chair: Dr Karen Du Preez
Co-Chairs: J Switala

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is responsible for ensuring the achievement of the Think Tank’s vision, mission and mandate.

Specific functions of the EXCO include:

  • Providing overall leadership and direction to technical Task Teams (Refer to section 1.6 for more information on Task Teams).
  • Ratifying TB Think Tank outputs (policy briefs to the NDoH, annual reports to stakeholders, presentations and publications in peer-reviewed journals) prior to dissemination.
  • Determining and/or ratifying selection of contractors to undertake commissioned work.
Chair
 Prof Norbert Ndjeka, Chief Director: TB Control & Management, NDoH
Co-Chair
 Dr Fareed Abdullah, Director, Office of AIDS and TB Research, South African Medical Research Council
Members
 Task Team Chairs and Secretariat members
Secretariat
 Dr Priashni Subrayen, TB Technical Advisor; Ms Farzana Sathar, Scientist; Ms Nolwazi Nkosi, Programme Coordinator

Prof Norbert Ndjeka

TB TT Chair

Professor Norbert Ndjeka is the Chief Director of TB Control and Management at the National Department of Health in South Africa. Previously, he served as director of drug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV. Under his leadership, there has been a decline in the number of drug-resistant TB cases in South Africa and a remarkable improvement in the proportion of patients successfully treated for drug-resistant TB.

He is a family physician specialist interested in tuberculosis and HIV. He holds a diploma in clinical management of HIV and a diploma in management of health institutions. He is the author of numerous articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has coordinated and drafted treatment guides and training modules for drug-resistant tuberculosis in several African countries.

He is currently the chair of the African Green Light Committee (Afro-GLC), a committee that advises WHO on how to manage drug-resistant tuberculosis. He is also president of the END TB SADC Committee. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cape Town in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the fight against drug-resistant tuberculosis locally and globally. He is appointed as an Honorary Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Cape Town (South Africa).

Fareed-Abdullah-TB-TT-Co-Chair-TB-Think-Tank-Executive-Committee

Prof Fareed Abdullah

TB TT Co-Chair

Dr Fareed Abdullah is a recipient of the French Ordre National du Mérite (National Order of Merit) for his work as a clinical researcher and public health scientist in the fight against HIV and TB.

He is a graduate of the University of KwaZulu- Natal’s Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine and currently serves as Director: Office of AIDS and TB Research at the South African Medical Research Council. Dr Abdullah also holds a part-time appointment as an HIV clinician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria.

Priashni-Subrayen-Secretariat-Lead-South-African-National-TB-Think-Tank

Dr Priashni Subrayen

Dr. Priashni Subrayen currently serves as Technical Director TB at The Aurum Institute which is a global healthcare solutions company and is also the head of the TB Think Tank Secretariat. She is currently also chairing the newly formed Data System and Innovations Task Team to ensure TB Data systems are responsive to TB programme needs. Having qualified as a medical doctor in 2002, she has more than 15 years of experience working in public health in South Africa and abroad. After acquiring a formal business education, she developed a keen interest in systems thinking, process re-engineering and continuous quality improvement which has been her specialised area for the past twelve years with TB HIV. The work in TB includes technical and clinical support to the Department of Health (DoH) at National, Provincial, District and facility level with a focus on data analytics for evidence-based improvement and design of interventions. She is responsible for the overall execution of the TB Think Tank’s Goals and Objectives and the management of the Secretariat.

Farzana Sathar

Farzana Sathar has been academically trained in the fields of epidemiology and biostatistics and is a Master of Public Health graduate from the University of Cape Town. She co-ordinated and lead various research projects in TB and COVID-19 for 8 years as a Research Manager at The Aurum Institute. During her 5 years in the United Kingdom, she managed home care services for the elderly and disabled. Home care is essential in promoting public health by enhancing individual care, reducing healthcare system strain, and fostering healthier communities. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Witwatersrand which is focussed on early TB diagnosis.

Nolwazi Nkosi - secretariat-programme-coordinator-tb-think-tank

Nolwazi Nkosi

Nolwazi Nkosi is a motivated and results-oriented Project Coordinator with a Master’s degree on Sociology from Rhodes University. The NGO sector is Nolwazi’s area of expertise. She has the experience working on HIV Prevention Programmes for key populations in Ekhurleni District and the Covid Emergency Grant Pilot Program in Buffalo City. Her interests include sexual reproductive health for adolescent girls and young women, particularly in rural areas, and changes in social norms. Eager to learn more about TB and its complexities.

Dr Lucy Connell

Finding Missing TB Patients Task Team Chair

Dr Lucy Connell holds medical and postgraduate degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, specialising in epidemiology and biostatistics. With a 30-year career dedicated largely to public health, she has focused on integrating HIV and TB programmes in South Africa, developing guidelines, and training multidisciplinary teams. Dr Connell served as the TB Programme Lead at Right to Care for a decade, and previously consulted for government, mining companies, international agencies, and non-profits. She has extensive experience in designing and leading health programme evaluations and research. She conducted the independent evaluation of the use of digital chest X-ray with AI assessment to screen for TB in primary health care facilities in 6 pilot districts in SA. Following this work, she facilitated the expert group that developed the new NDOH Standard Operational Procedure and algorithms for facility and community TB screening using digital chest X-ray and AI for TB screening. Most recently, Lucy collaborated in two research projects for the NDOH, on the status of the NIMDR-TB programme and the status of decentralisation of DR-TB services in South Africa.

Dr Connell is passionate about understanding complex health systems and values collaborative, idea-driven teamwork.

Prof Angelique Kany-Kany Luabeya

TB Prevention Task Team Chair

Prof Angelique Kany-Kany Luabeya is a leading expert in tuberculosis (TB) vaccine development and clinical trials, serving as Principal Investigator at the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI), University of Cape Town. Trained as a medical doctor with a Master’s in Epidemiology, she integrates clinical and public health expertise to lead cutting-edge TB vaccine and translational research. Prof Luabeya spearheads major vaccine trials, including M72/AS01E Phase 3, VPM1002, MTBVAC, BCG revaccination, and first-in-human studies for TB prevention and therapy. She has also played pivotal roles in COVID-19 vaccine trials (Novavax and Janssen) and diagnostic innovations, including non-sputum TB detection using tongue swabs.

Ms Erika Mohr-Holland

TB Epidemiology, Modelling & Health Economics

Erika Mohr-Holland is an epidemiologist with a Master’s in Public Health and Epidemiology from Boston University, deeply committed to advancing TB research, advocacy, and health equity. With over 12 years supporting the South African TB Programme, she currently works for the City of Cape Town, providing epidemiologic oversight and supporting surveillance across primary healthcare programs. Her work focuses on integrating digital tools into clinical practice to enhance patient management and disease monitoring. Erika has co-led national TB forums, contributed to implementation guidelines, and published several academic papers. As an active member of TB Proof, she advocates for social justice, stigma reduction, and equitable resource distribution for persons with TB. Passionate about addressing structural drivers of disease—colonialism, inequity, and climate change—she champions Global South leadership in the TB response and is committed to closing care gaps through integrated prevention, mental health, and substance use support for vulnerable communities.

TB Epidemiology

Modelling & Health Economics

Dr. Denise Evans

Optimising Treatment Outcomes Chair

Dr. Denise Evans is a public health researcher with extensive expertise in HIV, TB, and health systems research in South Africa. She earned her PhD in Biomedical Technology from the University of Johannesburg in 2007, specializing in molecular and cellular biology and immunology. In 2012, she moved over to the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE2RO), a division of the Wits Health Consortium, after working at the Clinical HIV Research Unit since 2009. At HE2RO, she has led projects to improve patient outcomes and coordinated health economic evaluations. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and a Clinical Scientist in Internal Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand, while maintaining a joint honorary appointment at HE2RO. In 2025, she was awarded a B2 category rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Dr. Evans has spearheaded major TB research initiatives, including large grants, cluster randomised trials, and health economic evaluations. She contributed to the STREAM trial and more recent studies such as TUTT Plus, sputum pooling, BringBPaL2Me trial, and cost effectiveness analyses of BPaL in South Africa and the Philippines. Her research interests include low cost tools for resource limited settings, AI and non invasive imaging for lung abnormality screening, and the socio economic consequences of TB and post TB lung disease. She has played leading roles in post TB cohorts, including the TB Sequel Project and IeDEA TB SRN, and has co chaired the Economic, Social, and Psychological working group of three International Post TB Symposia. She has also co led WHO commissioned reviews, contributed to the Post TB Health and Wellbeing Clinical Statement, and participated in WHO consultations on TB associated lung disease.

Beyond her research, she is committed to capacity building, mentoring postgraduate students, examining theses, and reviewing research protocols. She also serves as Secretary for The Union Africa Region Committee and is engaged with the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) Mentorship Program and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD).

Dr Karen Du Preez

Child & Adolescent and Maternal TB Task Team Chair

Dr Karen Du Preez completed her medical training at the University of Pretoria and joined the Desmond Tutu TB Centre (DTTC) in 2008 to follow her passion to improve child health in lower-middle income countries. Currently, Karen holds a senior researcher position at the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Stellenbosch University (SU) and leads paediatric TB epidemiology and implementation science research at the DTTC. Since joining the DTTC, she successfully completed an operational research fellowship at the Union, a distance learning MSc degree in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine cum laude, and a PhD at Stellenbosch University. She has also been a member of the World Health Organisation Child and Adolescent TB working group since 2012.

Technical Task Teams

The work of the TB TT is operationalised and executed through Task Teams which are established in alignment with national priorities.

Currently, the TB Think Tank has 5 Task Teams as outlined below:

Finding the Missing TB Patients

Finding Missing TB Patients focuses on all steps relating to broadening the reach of screening and diagnosis – including new diagnostic tools and improving algorithms, reaching high-risk populations, and strategies to reduce initial loss to follow-up. Service delivery issues related to testing delays and populations not accessing the formal health sector also fall under its purview.

Optimising Treatment Outcomes

Optimising Treatment Outcomes focuses on new treatment regimens and dosages as well as retention in care. This Task Team also considers multi-morbidities associated with TB, reducing TB-related mortality, and issues relating to service delivery and person-centred care.

Epidemiology, Modelling, and Health Economics

The Epidemiology, Modelling, and Health Economics Task Team utilises national laboratory and clinical notification data as well as primary research and locally-based models to answer questions of primary importance to TB prevention and control. The Task Team also considers economic and impact analyses of TB-related interventions and policies.

TB Prevention

The TB Prevention Task Team focuses on preventive therapy and adherence to preventive therapy, TB infection control, and consideration of future vaccine candidates.

Data Systems and Innovation

The newest of the Task Teams, Data Systems and Innovation will focus on advancing data access and integrating national clinical and laboratory data to improve continuity of care and facilitate better monitoring and evaluation. Other service innovations will also be taken up by this Task Team.

Child, Adolescent and Maternal TB Task Team

The team addresses the unique cross-cutting considerations for children and adolescents and Maternal health on TB. The Working Group’s primary focus is on creating paediatric TB guidelines and related stationery, reviewing and synthesising evidence to advise the National TB Programming, policy, and planning. Members of this working group span each of the Task Teams.

Slice 1

Partnerships and Collaborations