Rate My Professor Lara Fairall

Professor Lara Fairall holds an MBChB and a PhD. She is an honorary professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town and serves as founding director of the Knowledge Translation Unit in the Faculty of Health Sciences. She is also Professor of Global Healthcare Delivery in the King’s Global Health Institute at King’s College London. Fairall previously worked at the UCT Lung Institute, where she contributed to localising and implementing a South African version of the WHO Practical Approach to Lung Health, which evolved into the Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK) for primary healthcare across the life course. She has led the development, evaluation in pragmatic trials, and expansion of PACK, including partnerships with the BMJ to support evidence-based recommendations and dissemination to other low- and middle-income countries. Her work focuses on health systems research, health systems strengthening, and knowledge translation to empower frontline healthcare providers, including non-physician clinicians, in delivering quality care and advancing universal health coverage in settings such as South Africa, Ethiopia, Brazil, Nigeria, and Indonesia. Current research interests include optimised PACK versions for multimorbidity and adolescents, as well as applications of AI in evidence synthesis processes.

Fairall has authored numerous publications on topics including integrated care for tuberculosis and COVID-19, collaborative care packages for depression with chronic conditions, and models for estimating disease combinations. She maintains a verified professional email address associated with her UCT affiliation.