Dr Nellie Myburgh is a sociologist and head anthropologist of Wits VIDA (the Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit).She is also co-founder and director of the African Social Sciences Unit of Research and Evaluation (ASSURE). Both are divisions under the Wits Health Consortium. Nellie holds a PhD degree in the Sociology of Health and has been adding to this discipline for well over two decades by way of designing and implementing mixed methods, specializing in qualitative, ethnographic, and phenomenological research.
She has a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Sociology) and Master of Arts (Sociology of Health) Degrees which she obtained from the University of Malawi and completed her Doctorate studies (Sociology), at the University of South Africa. Dr Nellie Myburgh has more than 22 years’ experience designing and implementing mixed methods research with specialization in qualitative, ethnographic, and phenomenological research methods.
For the past 20 years, she has been working in the field of social science conducting research in various areas of interest including: social, cultural, and economic issues; health (HIV and AIDS, TB; sexual reproductive health and rights; maternal and child health); youth; gender-based violence; gender equity and empowerment; socio-economic development; malnutrition; international migration; human rights; social justice; political participation of women, urbanization; and many more. Her research interests include gender (including equity, empowerment, and gender based violence issues), social development and policy, culture, maternal and child health, child malnutrition, vaccine acceptancy, HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, agriculture and development, migration, human rights and social justice. Her research specialization is quantitative, qualitative, anthropological, ethnographical, and participatory research.
In Wits-VIDA, she provides social science methodological advice on a number of projects which are currently being undertaken including the Child Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Programme and Wits-VIDA.