Francisco Saúte Takes Over From Eusébio Macete as Director General of the Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM) in Mozambique

Francisco Saúte, who has been Scientific Director at the Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM) for some years, has been appointed Director General of the institution. He takes over the reins from Eusébio Macete, who has been heading up the research centre since 2008, the year CISM—originally set up through a bilateral cooperation agreement between the Spanish and Mozambican governments—became a wholly Mozambican Foundation under the direction of Mozambican researchers.

In addition to his role as Scientific Director, Francisco Saúte was also director of CISM’s Malaria Elimination Initiative in southern Mozambique, overseeing the design, implementation, monitoring, reporting and publication of operational research relating to malaria elimination.

Before joining CISM, Saúte worked at the non-governmental organisation FHI360, first as director of the Male Circumcision Programme and later as clinical director of the HIV/AIDS Health Systems Strengthening Project. His other positions include resident advisor for the US President’s Malaria Initiative in Angola and Rwanda, director of Mozambique’s National Malaria Control Program and head of the Communicable Disease Division. He also helped to coordinate the National HIV/AIDS Surveillance System at Mozambique’s Ministry of Health. Throughout his career, Saúte has also been a course organiser and lecturer in Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique.

He graduated in medicine from Eduardo Mondlane University, did a master’s degree in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and earned his doctorate in Malaria Epidemiology at the University of Barcelona in Spain.

Eusébio Macete leaves the post of director general after a decade at the helm of CISM, a centre of excellence in biomedical research in Africa and leader in the study of malaria and other infectious diseases. CISM has been responsible for many landmark scientific achievements, including the clinical development of the malaria vaccine (RTS,S), the generation of data that facilitate the implementation of pneumonia and diarrhoea vaccine programmes in Mozambique, and the development of novel strategies for malaria prevention during pregnancy that have been incorporated into World Health Organisation recommendations. Other pioneering projects at CISM include surveillance systems designed to facilitate research. These include demographic, microbiological and disease surveillance platforms operated by Manhiça District Hospital, which generate data and scientific evidence that is used to inform health policy decisions taken by the Mozambican government.

The official announcement of Sauté’s appointment as Director General of CISM took place at a virtual ceremony attended by the Board of Trustees of the Manhiça Foundation. The team at ISGlobal would like to thank the outgoing director for all his work and acknowledge his important legacy and to officially welcome Dr. Saúte as the new director of CISM.