The National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Lifetime Award went to Professor Shabir Madhi, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences; and Professor: Vaccinology of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He is also Director of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (Wits-VIDA); and Co-Director: African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise, Wits. He won the award for his leadership in research on vaccines against life-threatening diseases in Africa and globally, and he has been at the cutting edge of research in this area since 1997.