Professor René English is a Medical Doctor and Public Health Medicine Specialist and holds a Doctoral Degree in Medicine and an MPhil in Health Professions Education. She is currently the Head of the Health Systems and Public Health Division in the Department of Global Health in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University. She has previously served on the South African Health Ministerial Task Team for Human Resources for Health and on the Lancet National Commission on High Quality Health Systems in South Africa. She is a past recipient of the Africa Science Leadership Fellowship, and is an Africa CDC Kofi Annan Global Health Leadership Fellow (2023 cohort).