Since her medical training, Dr. van der Zalm had a special interest in paediatric infectious diseases and lung health. Her initial work as an undergraduate student on the role of respiratory viruses in children with cystic fibrosis resulted in her PhD proposal, which investigated the role of respiratory viruses in respiratory illnesses early in life in a large Dutch paediatric birth cohort.
She was awarded a PhD fellowship in the Alexandre Suerman program for her PhD research, which included a 2-year bursary to conduct clinical research leading towards a PhD. Whilst performing her PhD research, she had the opportunity to improve her epidemiological skills by completing a Masters’ degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Utrecht.
After completion of her PhD she specialized in becoming a paediatrician. Based on her strong interest to work in sub-Saharan Africa, she completed part of her clinical training in paediatrics at Tygerberg Hospital, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and later also at Red Cross Children’s Hospital. During this time, she realized her passion was to improve health care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like South Africa, by performing highly relevant clinical research to address the pressing health care issues experienced in these settings. Her main research aim is to improve lung health outcomes in children with pulmonary tuberculosis and other respiratory infections.
During the COVID pandemic she has been involved in the response of the Paediatric Department of Stellenbosch University including with the development of a COVID research that includes routine care surveillance and a prospective observational cohort of children with and without COVID-19.
