South African Researcher to Receive 2026 Maxwell Finland Award

Professor Shabir A. Madhi of the University of the Witwatersrand will receive the 2026 Maxwell Finland Award for Scientific Achievement, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases announced on 8 June 2026. The award recognizes scientists whose work has made lasting contributions to the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

Madhi led a South African study of nearly 40,000 children that demonstrated the effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. The findings supported approval of improved vaccines and advanced understanding of how respiratory viruses and pneumococcal infections interact to cause pneumonia.

Pneumococcal vaccines are estimated to have prevented hundreds of thousands of child deaths globally. Madhi also contributed to research on rotavirus vaccines that informed global recommendations for use in low- and middle-income countries.

Madhi led the world's first randomized controlled trial of influenza vaccination in pregnant women. He has conducted research into maternal vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus and Group B Streptococcus. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Madhi led Africa's first SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials, providing evidence that informed vaccine policy.

Madhi will receive the award at the NFID Awards Gala in Washington, DC, on 20 October 2026. The same event will present the 2026 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award to the chief executive officer of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the Utz Leadership Award to the director of Polio at the Gates Foundation.