Heather Zar is Professor & Chair, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health and Director of the SA-MRC Unit on Child & Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town. A global expert in childhood respiratory diseases, she’s built a strong clinical translational research program in some of the most deprived communities, with a strong focus on childhood pneumonia. She established an African birth cohort enabling study of the epidemiology, determinants and long term impact of early life exposures including pneumonia. She has participated in several studies of RSV prevention in infants. She chaired the WHO Technical Advisory committee on new RSV preventive interventions. She is past-President of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, of the Pan African Thoracic Society, and serves as an advisor to WHO, UNICEF and the Gates Foundation. She received the World Lung Health award from the American Thoracic Society, the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Laureate for Africa and Arabia, the SA-MRC Platinum medal for contributions over a lifetime, the European Respiratory Society Lifetime Achievement Award and the Barney Graham award for contributions on RSV. She is passionate about reducing global health inequities and ensuring access to effective interventions for all children.

Professor Gary Wong obtained his undergraduate medical education from the University of Alberta, Canada. He subsequently received fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital of British Columbia and visiting Fellowship at the Children’s Hospital at Munich, Germany. Prof Wong’s main research interests are treatment, control and prevention of respiratory disorders including asthma, wheezing illness and respiratory infections in children. He has published over 400 indexed original research articles and review articles in his field. He is a Past President of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Pediatric Allergy, Respirology and Immunology (APAPARI). He has been one of the Board of Directors of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). He is one of the current Board of Directors of the World Allergy Organization, one of the steering committee members of the ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) research group. Among other duties within many editorial boards, he is also an associate editor of New England Journal of Medicine.