In the bustling corridors of Johannesburg’s hospitals, Dr June Fabian first encountered the silent epidemic that would shape her career. As the winner of the NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist Award, Fabian’s journey from wide-eyed intern to pioneering nephrologist exemplifies the power of persistence in medical research.
“Kidney disease in Africa remains silent, deadly and misunderstood,” says Fabian, now Director of the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Research Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her mission? To unmask this hidden killer and transform healthcare for millions across the continent.
Fabian’s passion for nephrology was sparked during her internship at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. “Seeing a transplanted kidney start to work within minutes of being stitched into the patient was nothing short of a miracle,” she recalls.
Her research career as a nephrology fellow began in the thick of the HIV epidemic, with limited access to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, when “HIV-related kidney failure was a death sentence”. But rather than accepting defeat, Fabian saw an opportunity to make a difference.
She dedicated herself to developing evidence-based protocols for screening, treatment and kidney replacement therapy in HIV patients. Today, South Africa boasts the world’s largest ARV therapy programme, and routinely performs kidney transplants in people with HIV — a testament to the progress made by researchers like Fabian.
Her vision soon expanded beyond individual patient care. “My passion now is to understand what drives kidney disease in African populations, so that we can inform policy and practice,” she explains. “Most of our learning and teaching of kidney disease in Africa was informed by research done elsewhere. This has compromised our understanding of how we diagnose it, how we treat it and how widespread it is in African populations.”
This informs her ultimate goal: to contribute research that accurately represents African populations in global science, redresses inequities, and improves human life and care across the continent and beyond. Her most significant challenge is finding time for research: “My advice is to choose environments that value research, so that you and your research will be supported at multiple levels. If you have a dream to do research, don’t give up!”
She is committed to building a strong, sustainable network of research excellence across Africa. “We need to ensure we capacitate the next generation of African scientists,” she emphasises. “If we fail, we stand to lose an African-centric research focus and the generations of African scientists needed to drive our research agenda.”
