Aletta Schutte

Biography

Alta (Aletta E.) Schutte is Principal Theme Lead of Cardiac, Vascular and Metabolic Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; with a joint appointment as Professorial Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health. She has extensive experience in working in the field of hypertension and cardiovascular disease within Africa, but also as part of global projects.

In her previous role as the South African Research Chair (SARChI) in the Early Detection and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Africa, hosted by the Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART) at the North-West University and as Unit Director of Medical Research Council Extramural Unit for Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease, her research focus was to identify early markers for the development of hypertension, and ultimately prevent cardiovascular disease in the black African population. She has been the Principal Investigator of several multidisciplinary studies (POWIRS, SAfrEIC, African-PREDICT, co-PI of the South African leg of the PURE study), published over 350 papers on the topic of hypertension, and supervised over 85 postgraduate students. She is involved in numerous international consortia, such as the Global Burden of Disease study (Washington DC), the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (London), May Measurement Month initiative of the International Society of Hypertension, IDACO/IDCARS studies (Belgium), and was one of 20 authors to join the Lancet Commission of Hypertension.

She has been acknowledged for her work as winner of the Distinguished Woman Scientist in the Natural, Engineering and Life Sciences award, presented by the South African Department of Science and Technology; the NSTF South 32 TW Kambule Award; the British Association Medal from the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science (S2A3), the Meiring Naude Medal from the Royal Society of South Africa, the AU-TWAS (African Union & The World Academy of Sciences) Award, and the 2019 African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Award for Scientific Excellence.

She serves as Editor of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology and on the Editorial Board of cardiovascular journals, such as Hypertension, the Journal of Hypertension, Journal of Clinical Hypertension, Journal of Human Hypertension, Current Hypertension Reports and BMC Medicine. She is a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology and the Royal Society of South Africa; the Past President of the Southern African Hypertension Society (SAHS); and Past President of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH).


Education

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education
PhD, Cardiovascular Physiology
2000 – 2002

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education
Master of Science (MSc), Physiology
2000 – 2000

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education
Bachelor of Science (BSc Hons), Cardiovascular Physiology
1999 – 1999

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education
Bachelor of Science (BSc), Human Physiology
1996 – 1998


Experience

UNSW
Principal Theme Lead: Cardiac, Vascular and Metabolic Medicine
Feb 2020 – Present

The George Institute for Global Health
Professorial Fellow
Feb 2020 – Present

International Society of Hypertension
President
Sep 2018 – Present
President Elect
Sep 2017 – Sep 2018

International Society of Hypertension
Executive Council Member
2012 – Present

South African Medical Research Council
Unit Director
Jul 2015 – Jan 2020

North-West University
South African Research Chair (SARChI) in the Early Detection and Prevention of CVD in South Africa
Aug 2013 – Jan 2020

Professor of Physiology
2010 – Jan 2020

Director: Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART)
Aug 2008 – Aug 2013
The Hypertension in Africa Research Team conducts clinical and epidemiological research especially within the black South African communities, who present very high prevalences of hypertension, and ultimately suffer from the consequences.

Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology
Jan 2007 – Dec 2009

Southern African Hypertension Society (SAHS)
President
Aug 2014 – Aug 2016

Menzies School of Health Research
Postdoc
2004

Awards

-Winner Distinguished Young Women Scientist in the Life Sciences award – Presented by Minister Naledi Pandor and Deputy Minister Derek Hanekom, Department of Science and Technology in 2010. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-LQpCdCKso) A popular article appeared in the Mail & Guardian on 20 August 2010 describing the finalists and winners of the Women in Science awards. A radio interview was also conducted on 16 August with the South African radiostation SAfm. A popular article appeared in a women’s magazine (Rooi Rose) on the award, as well as hypertension research conducted by HART (March 2011).
-British Association Medal – from the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science (S2A3) in 2011. “This medal is awarded to a person under the age of 40 years who is actively involved in scientific research and who has proved evidence by way of publications, discoveries and/or skills of outstanding capability and achievement, especially when measured by international standards. The medal is struck in sterling silver and must enjoy the status of one of the highest awards for original scientific research in South Africa”. A feature article appeared in the Beeld newspaper on 30 September 2011.
-Founding Member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) – Selected in 2011 as one of 20 young scientists from all disciplines in South Africa. Inaugurated on 27 September 2011 by the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology (Mr. Derek Hanekom). A detailed report was published as a supplement in the Mail & Guardian, November 2011.
-Meiring Naude Medal – Awarded in 2012 by the Royal Society of South Africa. “The prestigious Meiring Naude Medal is awarded to outstanding young scientists under the age of 35, who have already made their mark in their chosen field and who are poised to become scientific leaders.”
-African Union – World Academy of Science Award (AU-TWAS) – Winner of this award in 2012 presented by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and the Department of Science and Technology in the category Life and Earth Sciences on 17 October 2012.
-“200 Top Young South Africans” – Nominated in 2013 by the Mail & Guardian newspaper as one of the top 200 South Africans aged 35 years and younger, from all sectors (http://ysa2013.mg.co.za/alta-schutte/).
Finalist of the 2012/2013 NSTF (National Science and Technology Forum)-BHP Billiton Awards – in the Category: TW Kambule Award: Individual through research and its outputs (over the last five to 10 years).
-TWAS Young Affiliate 2013 – by the World Academy of Sciences and African Academy of Sciences for the period 2013-2017 (http://twas.ictp.it/mbrs/tmp/yaff-list).
-Institutional North-West University Award for “International Leadership in Research” 2014. https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=RMAAUpTrUsU
-Awarded Unit Director of the prestigious Extramural Unit of the South African Medical Research Council: Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease. November 2014.
-Next Einstein Forum (NEF) Fellowship Award 2015-2016. The NEF is an AIMS initiative in partnership with the Robert Bosch Siftung and the Fellowship is a flagship program of the NEF. This program selected 15 young individuals (<40 yrs) from all disciplines in Africa that were featured at an invitation-only NEF Global Gathering in March 2016 alongside Nobel Prize Winners, Heads of State and representatives from leading global corporations, where fellows were featured, interviewed and showcased to a global audience with an expected 100 million media impressions.
-Recipient of the Excellence in Physiology Research Award from the Physiological Society of Southern Africa, 2015, awarded biennially to a “well-established physiologist who have proven their research excellence over a period of time. The recipient should have an excellent national profile and a high level of international recognition.”
-Winner of the TWAS-ROSSA Regional Young Scientists Prize (The World Academy of Science – Region Of Sub-Saharan Africa) for 2015. The TWAS-ROSSA award “seeks to honour an outstanding young scientist who has contributed to the development, mentoring and training of postgraduate students in various disciplines in addressing the challenges that Africa is facing e.g. Promotion of Science, Technology & Innovation (STI), participating in projects aiming to address issues pertaining to health, poverty and women’s leadership.”
-Winner of the 2016/2017 NSTF (National Science and Technology Forum) South 32 Awards – in the Category: TW Kambule Award: Research and its outputs (by an individual over a period of up to 15 years after award of a PhD or equivalent, predominantly in South Africa). https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-03-getting-to-the-heart-of-hypertension
-Winner Distinguished Women Scientist Award in the category: Natural, Life and Engineering Sciences– Presented by Minister Naledi Pandor, Department of Science and Technology in 2017. https://mg.co.za/article/2017-08-18-00-professor-alta-schutte and http://www.nrf.ac.za/media-room/news/nrf-funded-female-researchers-recognised-2017-women-science-awards
-Winner of the North-West University Award as most cited researcher of the University for 2017.
-Laureate: The African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Award for Scientific Excellence for 2018. Awarded in Addis Ababa at the Awards Ceremony of the African Union Commission in February 2019. https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20190211/african-union-kwame-nkrumah-scientific-excellence-awards-2018-edition and https://www.nrf.ac.za/media-room/news/african-union-honours-dstnrf-sarchi-chair
-Winner of the Young African Researcher Award 2019 [Category Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences] by the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology of Egypt. (www.asrt.sci.eg)
-Recipient of the North-West University Biennial Alumni Award 2019 for Research – awarded to outstanding alumni in recognition for their accomplishments and contribution to society. http://www.nwu.ac.za/af/prof-alta-schutte ; https://youtu.be/Rjap2-94iTU
-Winner of the first ever Kifra Prize 2020 in Science, awarded in March 2020 in Nairobi, Kenya www.kifraprize.org, an initiative by AIMS – biggest network of centres of Excellence in Mathematical Sciences in Africa. The prize rewards “collaborative scientific and technical breakthroughts that disrupt traditional paradigms for solving the grand challenges facing Africa and humanity”.


Most prominent publications

1. Unger T, Borghi C, Charchar F, Khan NA, Poulter NR, Prabhakaran D, Ramirez A, Schlaich M, Stergiou GS, Tomaszewski M, Wainford RD, Williams B, Schutte AE. 2020 International Society of Hypertension Global Hypertension Practice Guidelines. Hypertension 2020; 75:1334-1357. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.15026 and . J Hypertens 2020; 38:982-1004. DOI:10.1097/HJH.0000000000002453. With Editorial: Dominiczak A, Mancia G. Joint Editorial for the International Society of Hypertension Guidelines. Hypertension. 2020;75:1419. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.15224. With Editorial: Mancia G, Dominiczak A. The new International Society of Hypertension guidelines on hypertension. J Hypertens 2020, 38:981. DOI:10.1097/HJH.0000000000002490


2. Olsen MH, Angell SY, Asma S, Boutouyrie P, Burger D, Chirinos JA, Damasceno A, Delles C, Gimenez-Roqueplo A-P, Hering D, López-Jaramillo P, Martinez F, Perkovic V, Rietzschel ER, Schillaci G, Schutte AE, Scuteri A, Sharman JE, Wachtell K, Wang J-G. A call to action and a life-course strategy to address the global burden of raised blood pressure on current and future generations. The Lancet Commission on Hypertension. Lancet 2016; 388:2665-2712.


3. Schutte AE, Schutte R, Huisman HW, Van Rooyen JM, Fourie CMT, Malan NT, Malan L, Mels CMC, Smith W, Moss SJ, Towers GW, Kruger HS, Wentzel-Viljoen E, Vorster HH, Kruger A. Are behavioural risk factors to be blamed for the conversion from optimal blood pressure to hypertensive status in Black South Africans? A 5-year prospective study. Int J Epidemiol 2012; 14:1114-1123.


4. Beaney T, Schutte AE, Tomaszewski M, Burrell L, Charchar F, Ariti C, Castillo RR, Damasceno A, Kruger R, Nilsson PM, Prabhakaran D, Ramirez A, Schlaich MP, Wang H, Poulter NR on behalf of the MMM Investigators. May Measurement Month 2017: an analysis of blood pressure screening results worldwide. Lancet Glob Health 2018; 6:e736-e743 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30259-6.


5. Beaney T, Schutte AE,  Stergiou GS, Borghi C, Burger D, Charchar F, Cro S, Diaz A, Damasceno A, Espeche W, Jose AP, Khan N, Kokubo Y, Maheshari A, Marin MJ, More A, Neupane D, Nilsson P, Patil M, Prabhakaran D, Ramirez A, Rodriguez P, Schlaich M, Steckelings U, Tomaszewski M, Unger T, Wainford R, Wang J, Williams B, Poulter NR on behalf of the MMM Investigators. May Measurement Month 2019: The global blood pressure screening campaign of the International Society of Hypertension. Hypertension 2020. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.14874.


6. Schutte AE, Gona PN, Delles C, Uys AS, Burger A, Mels CMC, Kruger R, Smith W, Fourie CMT, Botha S, Lammertyn L, Van Rooyen JM, Gafane-Matemane LF, Mokwatsi GG, Breet Y, Kruger HS, Van Zyl T, Pieters M, Zandberg L, Louw R, Moss SJ, Khumalo IP, Huisman HW. The African Prospective study on the Early Detection and Identification of Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension (African-PREDICT): Design, Recruitment and Initial Examination. Eur J Prev Cardiol 2019; 26:458-470.DOI: 10.1177/2047487318822354. Editorial: Spence JD. Hypertension in Africa 2019; 26:455-457.


7. Invited commentary: Schutte AE. Urgency for South Africa to prioritise spending on cardiovascular disease management. Lancet Glob Health 2018; e177-e178. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30476-5.


8. Invited review: Schutte AE, Kruger R, Gafane-Matemane LF, Breet Y, Strauss-Kruger M, Cruickshank JK. Ethnicity and arterial stiffness. Art Thromb Vasc Biol. 2020; 40:1044-1054.
   https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.313133.


9. Modesti PA, Wang J, Damasceno A, Agyemang C, Van Bortel L, Persu A, Zhao D, Jarraya F, Marzotti I, Bamoshmoosh M, Parati G, Schutte AE. Indirect implications of COVID-19 prevention strategies on non-communicable diseases. BMC Medicine 2020;18:256. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-01723-6.


10. Invited review:Schutte AE, Venkateshmurthy NS, Mohan S, Prabhakaran D. Invited Review in ‘Hypertension Compendium’. Hypertension in low- and middle-income countries. Circ Res. 2021; 128:808-826. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.120.318729


11. NCD Risk Factor Collaboration. Worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015: a pooled analysis of 1479 population-based measurement studies with 19.1 million participants. Lancet 2017; 389:37-55.


12. GBD 2019 Viewpoint Collaborators. Five insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet 2020; 17;396:1135-1159. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31404-5.


13. GBD 2019 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet 2020; 396:1223-1249. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30752-2.


14. GBD 2019 Diseases and Injuries Collaborators. Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet 2020; 396:1204-1222.doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30925-9