Jimmy Volmink

James Volmink is a South African physician who is a professor and chief executive officer of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the Wellcome Trust. He is an advocate for evidence-based medicine and has campaigned to improve healthcare in South Africa. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Science of South Africa and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Volmink grew up in Cape Town during apartheid, where he had limited educational opportunities.^[1] He went to a segregated township school.^[1] He said that his parents believed in him and made him feel that he could do anything he wanted.^[1] He applied to study at Stellenbosch University in the 1980s, but was rejected because he was Black.^[1] He eventually studied medicine at the University of Cape Town,^[2] and started his career as a doctor, working in disadvantaged communities across South Africa. He completed his medical internship in Cape Town, where he became frustrated with the hospital hierarchy system.^[1] He applied for a job in rural Switzerland, where he became interested in public health.^[1] He returned to Cape Town, where he rotated through hospital positions in Cape Town. He worked at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and in Mitchells Plain as a family practitioner.^[3] He became passionate about being a health practitioner who practised health promotion.^[1] Volmink eventually applied for a training position at Stellenbosch University, but also for postgraduate positions overseas. He completed his training in public health at Harvard University,^[2] before moving to the University of Oxford on a scholarship. He became aware of the Cochrane group whilst out cycling with his son, where he met Iain Chalmers.^[1][3] He has said that this chance encounter was "a life-changing moment,".^[3]

Volmink founded Cochrane South Africa, a non-profit that looks to disseminate information of what works in healthcare.^[4] He commissioned studies into antiretrovirals, demonstrating that whilst they caused minor adverse effects, they prevented mother-to-child transmission.^[1] He campaigned to improve access to antiretrovirals for people in South Africa, and after many attempts to convince government to update their policies, the courts eventually mandated their use.^[1] At Cochrane, he coordinated public health summits in South Africa.^[1] He campaigned for Cochrane to adopt a global health equity strategy.^[5]

Volmink served as Professor and Dean of Medicine at Stellenbosch University. His research considered evidence-based medicine, with a focus on tuberculosis, HIV and cardiovascular disease.^[6] He advocated for equity and inclusion, and developed a master's program in clinical epidemiology.^[1]

He joined the Wellcome Trust at Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer in 2023.^[7]

Volmink was elected to the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2000.^[6] He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. In 2015, he was awarded the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Leverhulme Medal.^[8] In 2021 KU Leuven awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his commitment to public health.^[9][3]

• Salla A Munro; Simon A Lewin; Helen J Smith; Mark E Engel; Atle Fretheim; (24 July 2007). "Patient adherence to tuberculosis treatment: a systematic review of qualitative research". PLOS MEDICINE. 4 (7): e238. doi:10.1371/JOURNAL.PMED.0040238. ISSN 1549-1277. PMC 1925126. PMID 17676945. Wikidata Q28469261.
• Salla Atkins; Simon Lewin; Helen Smith; Mark Engel; Atle Fretheim; (16 April 2008). "Conducting a meta-ethnography of qualitative literature: lessons learnt". BMC Medical Research Methodology. 8: 21. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-8-21. ISSN 1471-2288. PMC 2374791. PMID 18416812. Wikidata Q33328653.
• ; Sara Woldehanna (26 January 2004). "Treatment of latent tuberculosis infection in HIV infected persons". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000171.PUB2. ISSN 1469-493X. PMID 14973947. Wikidata Q24247409.