Prof Hanekom is the Deputy Director, Tuberculosis at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is responsible for supporting the discovery and development of new TB vaccines. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2013, Prof Hanekom directed the South Africa Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative at the University of Cape Town. His expertise in clinical trials and in protective host responses to TB has led to more than 120 publications. He is past president of the Federation of African Immunological Societies, and has served on multiple international advisory committees in TB vaccine development and translational immunology. Prof Hanekom trained in medicine and paediatrics in South Africa and in paediatric infectious disease and immunology in the US.