Prof Martin Hale is a specialist anatomical pathologist who has spent his entire career working in the public sector both in Zimbabwe and South Africa. He has extensive experience in diseases that are prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly infectious disease and malignancy, inclusive of HIV. In particular he has an interest in HIV related malignancy, and the interplay between co-infection with HIV and other infections. Other interests include the changing epidemiology of disease as the local lifestyle of the population changes over time.

Prof Hale is fully committed to undergraduate and postgraduate training, recognising that good undergraduate education is a prerequisite to developing good postgraduate programmes. His educational initiatives have included improvement of postgraduate training in sub-Saharan Africa developed through the International Academy of Pathology. A significant milestone was his successful bid preparation and subsequent hosting of the international Congress of the international Academy of pathology in Cape Town, South Africa in 2012, a first for the African continent. The objective of this meeting was to enhance pathology education on the African continent. This was an overwhelming success with over 330 delegates from Africa attending, 150 of them being supported by bursaries sourced through the IAP.

Prof Hale has been involved with a number of collaborative research projects over the years including projects that have been funded by prestigious funding agencies. He recognises that postgraduate training cannot be complete without a research component.