Lee A. Wallis

In 1993, Wallis earned his MB ChB from the University of Edinburgh, subsequently serving in the Royal Navy for his postgraduate training.[1]

In January 2002, he relocated to Cape Town to complete a qualification as a Fellow of the College of Emergency Medicine, which he earned in 2003. Wallis graduated with MD specializing in Pediatric Disaster Triage in 2006.[1]

Wallis became a full Professor at Stellenbosch in 2011, and a full Professor at the University of Cape Town in 2012.[2] His division of emergency medicine comprises 48 speciality registrars, 80 masters and 25 PhD students.[1]

Wallis is responsible for the provincial EMS system in the Western Cape and for 40 hospital emergency centers.[1] Previously, Wallis led the re-design of ten emergency centers in South Africa. Wallis has been an advocate for the expansion of Emergency Medicine as a medical specialty across Africa throughout his career[3][4] and as a result of his research, has been involved in the development of emergency care systems in several countries across Africa and consults widely for institutions, organizations, and governments in the region.[1][5]

As of April 2019, Wallis has contributed more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and has been cited 2,867 times in the literature, achieving a h-index of 30.[6] He is an expert on emergency care system setup in low- and middle-income countries.[7] He co-developed the EFAR System Model, published in 2012.[8]

Wallis serves as Editor in Chief of the African Journal of Emergency Medicine[9] and was a contributing author for Disease Control Priorities 3 (DCP3), authoring the chapter on "Strengthening Health Systems to Provide Emergency Care."[10]

Wallis previously served as the President of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM), and is currently on the board of directors.[11] Wallis is also a past President of the Emergency Medicine Society of South Africa.[5]

Wallis is married to Abbi Wallis[3] and has two children.[12] He lives on a farm and in his spare time has set up a guest house, restaurant, and boutique winery,[12] which produced Wellington’s first 5-star wine.[13]