Professor Jonny Peter

The Allergy and Immunology Unit is headed by Prof Jonathan Peter, who is also Head of the Division of Allergology and Clinical Immunology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town. He is also an NIHR Global Research Professor.

He has been the recipient of several awards, both for undergraduate and postgraduate medical training, as well as for research. In 2013, he was awarded the prestigious Oxford Nuffield Medical Fellowship to undertake a fellowship in Clinical Immunology and Allergy at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and a post-doctoral fellowship in laboratory immunology at the Jenner Vaccine Institute. In 2015, he was awarded a Silver Medal from the SA MRC as a leading early career researcher. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers including a first or senior author publications in The Lancet, a leading general medicine journal and Allergy and JACI in practice, leading allergy and immunology journals, and Nature Communication and Primer journals - top science journals.  His Scopus and Google H Index is 52. He serves on the editorial board of JACI in practice and Current Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and as reviewer for multiple scientific journals. He serves on the several international committees in WAO and AAAAI, and is also on the steering committees of both the CURE and CARE international registries. He serves of the Allergy Society of South Africa (ALLSA) executive committee. His major clinical and research focus areas include: i) drug hypersensitivity in TB HIV endemic settings, ii) urticaria and angioedema, with a special focus on ACE-inhibitor angioedema, and iii) the changing face of aerobiology inSouthern Africa related to climate change and its impact on respiratory allergic diseases. His research is supported by grants from the NIH, NIHR, Wellcome Trust, EDCTP, SAMRC, National Research Foundation and the SA Rooibos Council.

In February 2016, he became the first HPCSA-registered allergist with a base speciality in adult internal medicine. He has a keen interest in medical education from undergraduate to post-graduate levels, including training in research. He serves on the steering committee of the NIH Fogarty HIV and TB training program (www.hattp.uct.ac.za).He is chairman of the Department of Medicine Research committee (www.medicine.uct.ac.za/departmental-research-committee-0), and member of the Faculty Research committee. He co-chairs the immunology curriculum development group for undergraduate medical students and has written guest editorials in the SAMJ on the promotion of immunology teaching and training. He has supervised two completed PhD, twelve completed MMed, four MSc (Allergy) and four BSc (Hon) students, with ongoing supervision of six PhD, seven MMed, Mphil and two MSc (Medicine).

Prof Peter is head of the Division of Allergology and Clinical Immunology at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town which provides tertiary facilities to a population of 3.74 million people. His division provides clinical services focused on atopic e.g. asthma, angioedema and urticaria, drug and food allergies, and immunodeficiency diseases. Several new services have been introduced at Groote Schuur Hospital including a combined multidisciplinary drug allergy clinic, a penicillin de-labeling clinic, as well as adolescent bridging clinic at Red Cross Hospital. We have also expanded the drug allergy desensitisation programme, and have several ongoing investigator-led research projects.