Alta Schutte

Alta Schutte conducts cutting-edge research that has advanced the understanding of hypertension and heart disease among African populations. She has helped develop an array of approaches to the early detection and prevention of cardiovascular disease. For instance, Prof. Schutte produced a 5-year prospective study on the question, “Are behavioral risk factors to be blamed for the conversion from optimal blood pressure to hypertensive status in Black South Africans?” As a result of her success in the identification of early markers for the development of hypertension, and ultimately the prevention of cardiovascular disease, she is appointed as the South African Research Chair in the Early Detection and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, hosted by the Hypertension in Africa Research Team at the North-West University. From her methodological skills and responsible research expertise, delivering over 270 papers, Prof. Schutte has been involved in numerous research projects to evaluate: Double product and end-organ damage in African and Caucasian men; N-terminal prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide and cardiovascular function in Africans and Caucasians; Associations between reactive oxygen species, blood pressure and arterial stiffness in black South Africans; and Arterial stiffness profiles. Prof. Schutte’s many honors include the reception of the Distinguished Woman Scientist in the Natural, Engineering and Life Sciences award presented by the South African Department of Science and Technology in 2017; the NSTF South 32 TW Kambule Award in 2017 and the British Association Medal from the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2018, she was awarded the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Award for Scientific Excellence. The Director of the Medical Research Council Extramural Unit for Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease, she serves as the Editor of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology and sits on the Editorial Board of numerous journals on hypertension.