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To the US and back: SA’s Prof Willem Hanekom reflects on joys of science and ‘running with opportunities’

Daily Maverick · · 2079 words · By Biénne Huisman
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-05-13-to-the-us-and-back-sas-prof-w…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

20 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 10
info Single Source 5
verified Verified 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
check_circle Corroborated 1
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“he leads 800 employees and a R1.1-billion budget as executive director of the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI)”
SINGLE SOURCE
Web search results confirm Willem Hanekom is the Executive Director of AHRI, but the specific figures regarding the 800 employees and R1.1-billion budget are not present in the provided evidence snippets.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Same-sex marriage has been legal in South Africa since the Civil Union Act, 2006 came into force on 30 November 2006. The decision of the Constitutional Court in the case of Minister of Home Affairs v…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_South_Afr…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_South_Africans
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Afrikaners (Afrikaans: [afriˈkɑːnərs]) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Until 1994, they dominated So…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaners
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Hanekom holds professor positions at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of Cape Town, University College London and the University of Washington.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While evidence confirms Hanekom's association with AHRI and mentions UCL and UKZN in general contexts, the specific list of four professorships is not explicitly corroborated by the provided evidence snippets.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Afrikaners (Afrikaans: [afriˈkɑːnərs]) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Until 1994, they dominated So…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaners
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Coloureds (Afrikaans: Kleurlinge) are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and to a smaller extent Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloureds
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_South_Africans
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“For the past two years he also served as a strategic adviser on the World Health Organization’s TB Vaccine Accelerator.”
VERIFIED
A web search result explicitly states that Professor Willem Hanekom 'serves on WHO’s PDVAC and as a strategic advisor for WHO’s TB Vaccine Accelerator'.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alex Sigal (born 1970) is a South Africa–based virologist at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa, the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, and the Hebrew University of Jerus…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Sigal
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mantoux test (also called the Mendel–Mantoux test, tuberculin sensitivity test, or PPD test) is a method used to screen for tuberculosis (TB) infection. It has largely replaced older skin testing …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantoux_test
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tuberculosis (TB) vaccines are vaccinations intended for the prevention of tuberculosis. Immunotherapy as a defence against TB was first proposed in 1890 by Robert Koch. As of 2021, the only effecti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis_vaccines
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“the global body monitors the landmark M72/AS01E phase three clinical trial, of which Hanekom is a co-principal investigator.”
VERIFIED
Forbes Africa explicitly identifies Professor Willem Hanekom as the 'co-national principal investigator for the M72/ AS01E TB vaccine candidate trial in South Africa'.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tuberculosis (TB) vaccines are vaccinations intended for the prevention of tuberculosis. Immunotherapy as a defence against TB was first proposed in 1890 by Robert Koch. As of 2021, the only effecti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis_vaccines
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web search NEUTRAL — As Professor Willem Hanekom, co-national principal investigator for the M72/ AS01E TB vaccine candidate trial in South Africa, explains to FORBES AFRICA: “Most vaccines are delivered by injection – it…
https://www.forbesafrica.com/health/2025/03/03/the-next-crit…
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web search NEUTRAL — Willem Hanekom. Executive director at Africa Health Research Institute, South Africa.Most TB cases arise within two years after M. tuberculosis exposure, suggesting a three-year trial period should be…
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Willem-Hanekom
+ 1 more evidence source
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“To date, the trial has enrolled 20,000 participants in five countries”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided search results for the M72/AS01E trial do not specify the number of participants (20,000) or the number of countries involved.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Lancet published trial information.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6…
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web search NEUTRAL — The trial enrolled 646 adult participants from 73 centers in the US and Canada.Participants were distributed across OSA severity levels, including mild (34.4%), moderate (42.4%), and severe (23.2%). P…
https://apnimed.com/article/ad109phase3toplineresults/
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web search NEUTRAL — Trial Phase. I. YesNo. Trials.Clinical trials have inclusion and exclusion requirements to determine which individuals qualify for participation. Listed below are key requirements for this clinical tr…
https://trials.lilly.com/en-US/trial/465015
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“About 54,000 people die of tuberculosis in South Africa every year”
CORROBORATED
Two independent news sources (News24 and Spotlight) both report that around 54,000 people died of TB in South Africa in 2024, citing WHO estimates.
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web search NEUTRAL — The following morning, he went to his local health clinic, where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease that most commonly attacks the lungs. South Africa has a particularly hi…
https://www.afro.who.int/countries/south-africa/news/south-a…
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web search NEUTRAL — Around 54 000 people died of TB in South Africa in 2024 and 249 000 fell ill with the disease, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization.
https://www.news24.com/southafrica/health-news/54-000-tb-dea…
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web search NEUTRAL — Around 54 000 people died of TB in South Africa in 2024 and 249 000 fell ill with the disease, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization. Marcus Low reports.
https://www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2025/11/12/54-000-tb-deaths-i…
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“Hanekom was diagnosed with HIV 19 years ago”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence confirms Hanekom's research on HIV and SARS-CoV-2, but does not explicitly state his personal diagnosis date.
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web search NEUTRAL — Willem Hanekom. Executive director at Africa Health Research Institute, South Africa.Background Understanding how HIV affects SARS-CoV-2 immunity is crucial for managing COVID-19 in sub-Saharan popula…
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Willem-Hanekom
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web search NEUTRAL — Willem Hanekom. Bernadett Gosnell. COMMIT-KZN Team.The first infection wave, where severity in HIV negative and PLWH was similar, still showed some HIV modulation of SARS-CoV-2 immune responses.
https://elifesciences.org/articles/67397
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web search NEUTRAL — What are HIV and AIDS? Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is a virus that targets cells in the immune system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g1ijpBI6Dk
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“In 2007, only about 390,000 of the more than five million people living with HIV in the country were on treatment.”
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The search results for '2007' provided general historical facts and movies, but no data regarding HIV treatment numbers in South Africa for that year.
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web search NEUTRAL — The highest-grossing film globally in 2007 was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, followed by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Spider-Man 3. [16]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007
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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 1, 2023 · 2007 was, in many ways, a turning point for the world, with major milestones occurring in science and technology. This year, Netflix began streaming content, NASA landed a spacecraft on …
https://www.thefactsite.com/year/2007/
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web search NEUTRAL — 2007: Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/2007
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“the institute participated in multinational studies to test the efficacy of the HIV prevention drug lenacapavir”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding AHRI's participation in lenacapavir studies.
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“It will roll out lenacapavir around its rural Somkhele campus from June, in partnership with the Department of Health.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the rollout of lenacapavir at the Somkhele campus.
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“In December 2020, in one of its state-of-the-art biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories, scientists Professor Alex Sigal and Sandile Cele first successfully “grew” the SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant.”
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“Professor Tulio de Oliveira studied virus samples for genetic clues, culminating in the initial detection of both the Beta and Omicron variants.”
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“Hanekom matriculated at Paul Roos Gymnasium.”
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“He studied medicine at Stellenbosch University, later specialising in paediatrics at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, affiliated to the University of Cape Town.”
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“In 1994, Hanekom enrolled for clinical sub-specialty training at Northwestern University in Chicago.”
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“Next, he cut his teeth in TB and immunology research as a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University in New York City.”
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“In 2005, he returned to the University of Cape Town to become the laboratory director of its South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative”
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“In 2013, he was recruited to the Gates Foundation in Seattle to lead its TB vaccine group, and to develop its first global TB vaccine strategy.”
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“Six years later, in 2019, Hanekom was recruited to head up the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban.”
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“A book Hanekom recently enjoyed was the 2025 Booker Prize winner Flesh by David Szalay”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.