Professor Tanya Doherty is a chief specialist scientist with a research focus on health system requirements for the optimal delivery of priority maternal, newborn and child health services. She has conducted several cluster-randomised trials and programme evaluations of interventions in South Africa and across the continent, and has published over 150 peer–reviewed articles. She is also an honorary professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, UCT, and extraordinary professor in the School of Public Health, UWC, where she teaches and supervises Master’s and PhD students.