I’m a trained molecular biologist and a Principal Medical Scientist within the Division of Haematopathology. Jointly appointed by the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) and Stellenbosch University (SU) at Tygerberg Hospital, Western Cape, South Africa.

I had executive roles in various societies and some of these includes being past vice-chair of the Association of South African Women in Science and Engineering (SA-WISE), past treasurer of the South African Society of Haematology (SASH) and an evaluation panel member for the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) on medical intern scientist training. I’m a council member for the European, Middle Eastern and African Society of biobanking (ESBB). Ive been part of workshops, symposiums and conference organizing committees for various local and international societies. Some include PathCape2018, a FSASP based congress where I was part of the Haematology Scientific Program Committee; PathRed2023, where Ive been part of the Haematology Discipline Advisory Committee aiding the Haematology Scientific Organizing Committee representatives by designing and co-chair training workshops and the Haematology program sessions. I was the co-chair representing the ESBB council on the European Biobank Week (EBW) 2024 Scientific Program Committee as well as part of the EBW24 Conference Committee. Other membership and working group involvement is the International Society for biological and environmental repositories (ISBER) and the Biobank and cohort network (BCNET) in association with the international agency for research on cancer (IARC) and WHO. I’m currently the deputy chair for the Medical Biobanks Cluster under the auspices of the South African National Scientific Research Collections Platform, with the aim of establishing a Network of Medical Biorepositories in South Africa (MBiRSA). We are currently co-organizing and hosting an international conference with ISBER and the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN) for 29Sept-3Oct 2025. Through all these initiatives, I’ve been heavily involved in policy related developments.

Promoting the science of biobanking, genetics and cancer as well as medical laboratory science and health data protection and sharing within South Africa and the rest of Africa is a key mission and I’m involved in various projects associated with it.

Other leadership and management positions:

• HPCSA National Assessor, Moderator and Evaluator for the category, Haematology
• Peer Reviewer for BMC Medical Ethics, Plos One, Biopreservation and Biobanking, BMC Cancer and grant funding agencies such as Wellcome Trust, NHLS, NRF and MRC, etc
• External Moderator for UCT Genetics Department-BScHons Genetic Program - 2023-current
• Chair of Pathology Transformation Committee - 2023-current
• Recurrent external assessor for MRC, NRF and various SA academic institutions -current
• Federation of South Africa Societies of Pathology Scientific Program Committee-2025-current