Matthew Chersich is Research Professor in the Climate and Health Directorate at Wits RHI, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He has worked on public health research across Africa for around 20 years, and with WHO and other international organisations.
After medical school at the University of Witwatersrand, he studied public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and doctoral studies at Ghent University, Belgium. He has written more than 200 peer-reviewed articles. His research projects focus on the impacts of climate change on health and interventions to reduce these impacts.
Several studies across Africa are testing interventions to reduce the risks of exposure to extreme heat, especially among pregnant women and newborns.