Matthew Chersich is a medical doctor and epidemiologist by training. Research Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, he is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, Belgium. With an H index of 44, his work is nearing 6500 citations. He holds qualifications from three Universities, and the Colleges of Medicine in South Africa and the United Kingdom. He also has an interest in Franciscan Theology and spent two years in Assisi, Italy as a visiting student at the Institute of Theology. Aside from research activities, Matthew has made substantial contributions to global health policy, including to 14 WHO guidelines or monologues, where he filled a range of roles, including as guideline writer, lead on systematic reviews, lead methodologist overseeing systematic reviews for guidelines, guideline reviewer, and invited technical expert. He is a contributing author to the Africa chapter of the 6th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. His content knowledge is in climate change and health, HIV prevention, and reproductive health. He serves as the lead editor for the climate change section of the journal Globalisation and Health and has a regular column on the topic in the South African Medical Journal.