Biography

Prof Tiaan de Jager is the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Director of the UP ISMC, and a professor in Environmental Health at the School of Health Systems and Public Health at the University of Pretoria. He has a PhD in Reproductive Biology and he completed a post-doctoral study at Laval University, Canada. Prof de Jager is involved in on-going epidemiological and laboratory-based reproductive toxicology, and epigenetic studies. He is keenly involved in malaria, public health and water quality research. Prof de Jager is an internationally recognised researcher (C1 NRF-rated), supervises several post-graduate students, and is dedicated to building research capacity and promoting science in Africa. He maintains multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary collaborations, is involved in malaria outreach programmes and regularly engages with communities; all looking towards malaria elimination in Africa. He has published more than 55 scientific papers in international Journals. SCOPUS H-index = 16 (citations 1245).

Discipline/s

Environmental health, public health, reproductive toxicology.

Research description

Prof de Jager’s research interests – including endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), public health, reproductive toxicology, and environmental health with a special interest in malaria – interconnect and align perfectly with the One Health concept. His work on EDCs focuses on the environmental and health effects of exposed populations. He has been involved in examining contamination of rivers, dams, and drinking water, routes of contamination, and the effects on general and reproductive health in animals and humans. Synergistic effects between environmental EDCs and phytoestrogens in the diet has been reported, which might have serious implications for future generations, with more pronounced negative effects after trans-generational exposure. More recent collaborations involved epigenetic changes in male populations exposed to environmental contaminants. Research activities focus mainly on Vhembe District, a high malaria-burden area in north-eastern Limpopo Province. The increased occurrence of malaria- and other disease-carrying mosquitoes in the area highlighted the need for intensified vector surveillance, which exemplifies a One Health approach, involving collaborative, coordinated and transdisciplinary methods to identify risks at the animal-human-ecosystem interface. As an internationally recognised researcher, his opinion is often sought on the health effects of DDT, an insecticide used for malaria vector control. His recommendations have informed policies on water management and sustainable malaria control.

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