Prof. Natalie Schellack

Prof Natalie Schellack is a registered pharmacist, Professor and currently the Head of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Pretoria. She holds three degrees, two bachelor’s degrees (nursing and pharmacy) and a PhD in Pharmacy. Outside the University, she serves on the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) and is the editor of the South African Pharmacy Journal (SAPJ). Her research interests are centred on the broad area of infectious diseases (aspects related to antimicrobial stewardship).

Dr. Charlotte Sriruttan-Nel

I am a senior pathologist in clinical microbiology with an interest in infectious disease pathology. I have 15 years of experience in service delivery, teaching and research across public and private healthcare-sector routine diagnostic laboratories. I hold a joint staff post in the School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand. As the specialist pathologist, I currently direct an accredited (ISO 15189) Parasitology Reference Laboratory that forms part of the Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases (CEZPD) of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), in Johannesburg, South Africa. The laboratory provides a diagnostic reference service for the more than 300 pathology labs in the public sector that form the National Health Laboratory Service of South Africa, serving 80% of the country’s population, as well as specialist diagnostic tests for private-sector laboratories. I am involved in diagnosing and identifying parasitic pathogens in clinical samples and providing clinical advice to clinicians. The Centre also carries out surveillance for relevant diseases of public health importance, and does applied research in these areas. The Parasitology Reference Lab currently participates in surveillance for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis, and contributes to various aspects of malaria in South Africa. As a current member of the South African Malaria Elimination Case Management sub-committee, and of the South African Neglected Tropical Diseases Working Group, I contribute toward clinical, laboratory and public health guidance at a national level.

Dr. Shaheed Valley Omar

Dr. Shaheed V Omar, Medical Scientist with specialization in Microbiology, focusing on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) research since his post-graduate training He currently Heads the Centre for Tuberculosis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases a division of the National Health Laboratory Service in South Africa. The Centre’s primary responsibility is National laboratory surveillance of TB in South Africa. In addition, he further heads the National & WHO Supranational TB Reference Laboratories, which are incorporated into the Centre. He has been instrumental in advancing diagnostic evaluations, laboratory interpretative criteria for drug resistance determination. His current research focus is directed to improving national surveillance methodologies through the adept application of next-generation sequencing techniques. His contributions to both surveillance and research have actively shape national and global policy guidance pertaining to tuberculosis control and management. His direction has facilitated the seamless implementation of cutting-edge TB diagnostics into the routine laboratory, thereby strengthening standard practices and augmenting the efficacy of tuberculosis control measures.

Dr. Molebogeng Kolojane

Dr. Molebogeng Kolojane is a clinical microbiologist based at the microbiology laboratory at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) in South Africa. She completed her undergraduate studies with a BSc (Microbiology) and a medical degree at the University of Pretoria. She subsequently completed her fellowship in microbiology (FCPath) with the College of Medicine SA and the International Postgraduate Diploma in Infection Prevention and Control (IPDIC) course with Infection Control Arica Network (ICAN) & Centre of Infectious Diseases Radboud University Medical Centre collaborative. Dr Kolojane has been supporting district and regional hospitals in the Johannesburg Central and West Rand area as an outreach pathologist. She has been involved in outbreak investigation, antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs and offer laboratories support in outreach health care facilities. Dr Kolojane is involved in the undergraduate and post graduate microbiology training at the University of Witwatersrand and IPC training in the IPDIC course presented by ICAN and the University of Radboud, Netherlands. She is a committee member of the Infection Control Society of Southern Africa (ICSSA) under FIDSSA and a member of the ICAN board.

Dr. Yesholata Mahabeer

Dr. Yesholata Mahabeer is the Principal pathologist currently based at National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) KwaZulu Natal academic complex at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban. She studied medicine at the University of KwaZulu Natal. She subsequently completed her fellowship in microbiology in 1999 followed by master’s in medical microbiology in 2015. She has worked in several laboratories NHLS laboratories in Durban over the past 25 years. She currently oversees paediatrics, neurosurgery and haematology wards. Her interests include neurosurgical infections, mycology and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. She is passionate about teaching and plays an active role in undergraduate and post graduate microbiology training. In addition she has supervised a number of post-graduate students.

Dr. Vanessa Quan

Dr. Vanessa Quan is the head of the GERMS-SA laboratory surveillance platform at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), based in Johannesburg. She has been working at NICD since 2003 in public health (infectious diseases) surveillance and helped set up the GERMS-SA Surveillance platform, a national laboratory surveillance system with an enhanced, sentinel surveillance arm and clinics for syndromic surveillance. Vanessa is a medical doctor who qualified at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (Wits), South Africa. She has an interest in child health and infectious diseases and holds a Masters in Public Health, Maternal and Child Health (Wits). Her main interests include the epidemiology of neonatal sepsis and vaccine-preventable diseases.

Dr. Mary Kathryn Bohn

Dr. Mary Kathryn Bohn is a clinical biochemist at Unity Health Toronto in Toronto, ON, Canada. Dr. Bohn completed her clinical chemistry postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto in 2025. She obtained her PhD in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto where her research focused on improving the interpretation of biomarkers of health and disease in pediatrics and pregnancy as part of CALIPER (Canadian Laboratory Initiative of Pediatric Reference Intervals) at The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Bohn has published over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts and presented her work nationally and internationally. Her research has led to recognition from the Canadian Society for Clinical Chemists (CSCC), Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Association of Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine (ADLM), and SickKids Research Institute. Mary Kathryn is an active member of the clinical chemistry community and contributes to various special interest groups related to reference intervals, harmonization, and quality improvement.

Dr. Daleen Kriel

Dr. Daleen Kriel is a consultant in haematopathology at the Groote Schuur and Red Cross Children’s Hospital NHLS laboratories. She is a general haematopathologist actively involved in consultative haematology and reporting of morphology, coagulation, haemoglobinopathy testing and flow cytometry, while also serving on research support committees in the Department of Pathology at UCT. Dr Kriel was recently selected to join the Anemia and Red cell disorders committee of the International Society of Laboratory Haematology. She enjoys teaching and training, and values pragmatic approaches to everyday haematology questions.

Dr. Kathy-Anne Strydom

Dr. Kathy-Anne Strydom is a pathologist specialising in medical microbiology, currently working in the Microbiology Department of the Ampath National Reference Laboratory in Centurion, Gauteng. She graduated from the University of Pretoria’s medical school in 2008, where she also completed her MMed and FCPath in Medical Microbiology with distinction in 2015. She maintains her affiliations with the University of Pretoria as an extraordinary lecturer in the Department of Medical Microbiology. She has a particular interest in antibiotic resistance in Gram negative pathogens, as well as the use of molecular diagnostics in the diagnosis of infectious diseases.

Mrs. Anura David

Mrs Anura David is a medical scientist and PhD candidate with over 15 years of experience in the development and evaluation of molecular diagnostics for tuberculosis, with a focus on resource-limited settings and TB/HIV coinfection. She contributed to national evaluations of Xpert MTB/RIF, Xpert Ultra, BD MAX MDR-TB, and cobas MTB, supporting their adoption within South Africa’s National Priority Program. Her work centres on pre-market development of diagnostics that improve patient care across the testing pathway. She also plays an active role in supporting a molecular external quality assessment programme that uses dried culture spot technology to ensure reliability and consistency in TB diagnostics

Prof. Olga Perovic

Olga Perovic, Principal Pathologist and Associate Professor Current positions  Director, AMR Division at WITS Health Consortium, Johannesburg, South Africa  Honorary Principal Pathologist at Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory and Culture Collection at Centre for Healthcare-Associated Infections, Antimicrobial Resistance and Mycoses (CHARM) at NICD and  Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, from May 2013.  Head, WHO Collaborative Centre for AMR, 2017 up to date. Professional skills Antimicrobial resistance and characterization of bacterial organisms remain focus of her activity as clinical microbiologist/pathologist at NHLS/NICD since 2000. Further, she established Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory (AMRL) in 2010 at NICD for reference diagnostic, surveillance and public health purposes focusing on ESKAPE organisms. As an expert she was a member of Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on AMR in South Africa, which involved contribution to National Action Plan (NAP) for AMR and Antimicrobial Stewardship Guidelines. Olga has taken responsibilities for national and international External Quality Assessment (EQA) Programs for microbiology since 2009. She is a member of number of WHO network working groups such as GLASS, since 2013 and was member of AG-CIA; TAG on Vaccine and AMR and Strategic and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) on AMR at WHO, 2013-2018. Olga was the recipient and principal investigator of external grants, (active grants) and one of them- SAMRC-Antimicrobial resistance prevalence and transmission between animal feed and humans; ATLAS surveillance project, Fleming Fund- External Quality Assessment in Africa phase 1 & 2; WHO EQA grants and others. Olga provides expertise and technical inputs for training in bacteriology and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, EQA; laboratory QMS implementation, and laboratory policy development as a priority to the African Union states members. Olga has supervised and mentored numerous postgraduate students and published over 100 manuscripts

Prof. Anne von Gottberg

Prof. Anne von Gottberg is currently the laboratory lead at the Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg, and Associate Professor within the School of Pathology, Faculty of the Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits); and Honorary Professor, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town. She leads a laboratory team responsible for reference diagnostics for respiratory and meningitis pathogens nationally and regionally. She is currently a member of several committees and technical advisory groups and is chairperson of the National Advisory Group for Immunisation (NAGI) in South Africa. Her main interests include surveillance for meningitis and respiratory pathogens, assessing vaccine effectiveness where relevant. Dr von Gottberg obtained her MBBCh and PhD at Wits, and trained for her specialisation in clinical microbiology (FC Path[SA] MICRO) at the NHLS and Wits.

Prof. Adrian Brink

Professor Adrian Brink is Head of the Division: Medical Microbiology, and member of the Institute of Infectious Disease & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town and the National Health Laboratory Services, Groote Schuur hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. Prof Brink was founding President of the Federation of Infectious Diseases Societies of Southern Africa. His is main research interests are the mechanisms of resistance as a confounder in antibiotic stewardship, the design and implementation of large-scale antibiotic stewardship interventions in LMICs. The current focus also includes translating genomic One Health research priorities into action at the human-animal-environment interface.

Dr. Penny Moore

Dr Penny Moore is the South African Research Chair of Virus-Host Dynamics and Research Professor at Wits University and NICD. She is Director of the Antibody Immunity Research Unit, an extramural unit of the SAMRC and a Research Fellow at the Infectious Diseases and Oncology Research Institute. She also holds a joint appointment as Honorary Senior Scientist in Virus-Host Dynamics at CAPRISA, UKZN. Penny directs a research group who work in the fields of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine discovery, combining Virology, Immunology and Bioinformatics. More recently, the team has expanded to work on Influenza, Cytomegalovirus, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Adenoviruses and Ebola.

Dr. Jeremy Nel

Dr. Jeremy Nel is a physician and infectious diseases specialist, and the head of infectious diseases at Helen Joseph Hospital and the University of the Witwatersrand. He completed a transplant infectious diseases fellowship at the University of North Carolina, is past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of South Africa, and is an active member of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society. He has published research in the fields of HIV, tuberculosis, nontuberculous mycobacteria, COVID and cryptococcal meningitis, and lead or participated in clinical trials in COVID-19, cryptococcal meningitis, and pneumonia therapeutics.

Dr. Homie Razavi

Dr. Homie Razavi is the Managing Director and founder of the CDA Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to hepatitis elimination. He is also a fellow in the Society of Decision Professionals and has 25 years of decision analysis experience. In the last 10 years, he has focused his efforts on supporting public health decisions related to viral hepatitis elimination. He and his team collaborate with over 100 countries globally to develop and implement national programs. In addition, he started the Polaris Observatory which has become the gold standard in global and country-level HBV and HCV burden estimates.

Dr. Emily Prendergast

Dr Emily Prendergast is a doctor and research clinician from the UK whose work spans multiple disciplines (infectious diseases, global health, community engagement, anthropology). Emily undertook an undergraduate degree in Human Social and Political Sciences and a subsequent postgraduate degree in Medicine at the University of Cambridge, followed by internships and clinical fellowships at St Thomas’ and St George’s Hospitals in London. Here, she acquired an interest in HIV-related cryptococcal disease, leading to qualitative research and community engagement work in Johannesburg. Emily is the Lead Clinician of ADVANCE GERMS-SA, investigating severe infections in people with advanced HIV disease in South Africa.

Dr. Christopher Ealand

Dr. Christopher Ealand is a researcher at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), based at the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) in Braamfontein. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cape Town and now specializes in Biomedical Tuberculosis Research – spanning basic, clinical and translational mycobacteriology. This includes the characterization of enzymes involved in peptidoglycan biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis; and the development of diagnostic tools and probes for the detection for TB, such as tongue swabs and novel fluorescent stains. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he developed qPCR-based assays for detecting circulating SARS-Cov-2 variants. Dr. Ealand is a recipient of prestigious fellowships from Columbia University, CSIR, NRF, and the South African Medical Research Council and has mentored/graduated several postgraduate students in the faculty of Health Sciences. cademically active and enjoys research. During his post-graduate studies, he collaborated with colleagues at Brigham and Women’s hospital, Boston (USA), with specific work on foetal alcohol syndrome and sudden infant death syndrome. Dan has published in many peer-reviewed journals and has presented at local and international congresses. Dan is a Fellow of the European Confederation of Neuropathological Societies. He is a recipient of National Research Foundation (Desmond Tutu Foundation) fund.

Dr. Dan Zaharie

Dr. Dan Zaharie MD, MMed(AnaPath), MMed(ForPath), FC ForPath(SA), EFN Dr Dan Zaharie has been a qualified anatomical and forensic pathologist for more than two decades, with extensive experience in both in vivo and post-mortem pathology. He qualified as a neuropathologist in 2013 – currently the only neuropathologist in South Africa and is employed jointly by the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) and the University of Stellenbosch (US), South Africa.Dan also holds appointments as senior lecturer in Neuroscience module and the Forensic Medicine department of the Faculty of Health Sciences, US. He has recently completed his PhD “New insights in the pathogenesis of granulomatous inflammation in neurotuberculosis” (Vrije University of Amsterdam and University of Stellenbosch). He is passionate about all aspects of neuropathology and sharing his knowledge with students (both pre- and post-graduate) and healthcare colleagues in order to improve the life of patients. Dan is academically active and enjoys research. During his post-graduate studies, he collaborated with colleagues at Brigham and Women’s hospital, Boston (USA), with specific work on foetal alcohol syndrome and sudden infant death syndrome. Dan has published in many peer-reviewed journals and has presented at local and international congresses. Dan is a Fellow of the European Confederation of Neuropathological Societies. He is a recipient of National Research Foundation (Desmond Tutu Foundation) fund.

Dr. Chemedzai Esnath Chikomba

Dr. Chemedzai Esnath Chikomba is Senior Pathologist for Point-of-Care Testing (POCT), National Priority Programmes, NHLS, South Africa Dr. Chemedzai Chikomba is the Senior Pathologist for Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) within the National Priority Programmes of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), South Africa. A specialist in Chemical Pathology, she holds a Fellowship from the College of Medicine of South Africa, an MMed from the University of the Witwatersrand, and a POCT Specialist Certificate from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. She previously served on the NHLS POCT Pilot Team, leading national validations of chemistry, immunochemistry, and blood gas analyzers, and continues to drive strategic implementation and quality oversight of POCT across the country. Her portfolio includes health technology assessments, national glucometer verification, and risk-based training models for decentralized diagnostics. She is an active academic with multiple conference presentations to her name, including POCT Africa, and contributes to registrar training and postgraduate research supervision. Dr. Chikomba’s interests span diagnostic equity, digital integration, and policy-driven laboratory innovation across low- and middle-income health systems

Prof. Annalise Zemlin

Prof. Annalise Zemlin is Head of Division of Chemical Pathology (National Health Laboratory Service and University of Stellenbosch) at Tygerberg Hospital. Her main research interests are Laboratory Management and Operational Research, Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine, Diabetes Mellitus and Cardiovascular Disease, Point of Care testing, and more recently Laboratory Investigation and Outcomes in COVID-19. She is the past chair of and now consultant for the IFCC committee on Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine and currently a member of the IFCC committee for Laboratory Management. She is a corresponding member of the IFCC committees for Point of Care Testing, the Education on the Use of Biomarkers in Diabetes, and the Value Proposition in Laboratory Medicine. She is actively involved in module and curriculum development, training of undergraduate students, teaching and supervising of postgraduate students, and is module coordinator of the South African Laboratory Management Module in Pathology. This module is presented to all senior pathology registrars in South Africa. She has a keen interest in the extra-analytical phases of laboratory testing and the use of laboratory audits as quality improvement tools. She has performed numerous laboratory audits in South Africa and with other countries in Africa. She is a founder member of the College of Pathologists of East, Central and Southern Africa which was founded in Kampala, Uganda in 2010

Dr. Verena Gounden

Dr Verena Gounden, completed her undergraduate studies (MBChb) at the University of Natal. She undertook her specialised training at the NHLS labs at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospitals in 2006. She completed her FCPath (Chem Path) in 2009 and was awarded her MMED in 2010. Dr Gounden joined the Department of Chemical Pathology at IALCH as a consultant in 2011. She spent two years on a visiting fellowship at the Clinical Laboratory at the NIH, Clinical Centre in Bethesda, USA. She returned to IALCH in 2014 and was appointed Head of Department in 2016. She is currently the consultant chemical pathologist providing oversight in 4 laboratories in the west of Ireland including the Galway University hospital where she also chairs the hospital Near-Patient testing committee. Dr Gounden was awarded the status of Diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Chemists in 2014, her PhD in Medical Biochemistry in 2021 and fellow of Royal College of Physicians Ireland in 2025. She is a current member of the IFCC task force on Outcome based studies in Laboratory Medicine. She has over 50 peer reviewed publications and several book chapters

Dr. Marli Dercksen

Dr. Marli Dercksen is a clinical biochemist with over 20-years of expertise in chemical pathology and biochemical genetics. As Chief Medical Scientist and Consultant at the Centre for Human Metabolomics, North-West University, she leverages her laboratory skills and clinical knowledge to advance diagnostic testing through cutting-edge methodologies like hyphenated mass spectrometry. Dr. Dercksen's expertise encompasses biochemical and genetic diagnosis of rare diseases, patient-driven research, and training scientists and medical professionals in biochemical genetics. She's a strong advocate for newborn screening, believing it should be a standard practice for all South African neonates. Her notable achievements include establishing Sub-Saharan Africa's first dedicated lysosomal storage disorder diagnostic platform, contributing to Africa's first rare disease biobank, serving on the Committee of Medical Science, HPCSA (2021-2023) and, obtaining registration with the European Board of Medical Genetics as a clinical laboratory geneticist specializing in biochemical genetics (2022). Dr. Dercksen finds solving complex biochemical mechanisms in inherited metabolic diseases deeply rewarding, as it significantly impacts the lives of many families. Her collaboration with the Nngwe initiative (ONE Network, ONE goal, ONE life changed) has brought this vision to life, enabling undiagnosed patients in South Africa to benefit from her and her team’s expertise

Prof. Sedef Yenice

Prof. Sedef Yenice is an internationally renowned leader in clinical biochemistry, laboratory medicine, and healthcare quality systems. With over 30 years of experience, she holds a PhD in Medical Biochemistry and an MBA in Executive Management. Prof. Yenice chairs the IFCC Visiting Lecturer Program and the EFLM Committee on Continuing Professional Education, while actively contributing to global accreditation and education initiatives. She has delivered over 100 lectures worldwide and received prestigious awards, including the EFLM Academy Award. Academically, she has founded and led biochemistry departments at multiple universities. Clinically, she serves as Director of the Central Clinical Laboratory at Group Florence Nightingale Hospitals, Istanbul.

Prof. Joris R. Delanghe

Prof. Joris R. Delanghe is known in the field of clinical chemistry, urinalysis and plasma protein chemistry. He received his MD (1982) and PhD (1989) at Ghent University (Belgium). He was trained in laboratory medicine and nuclear medicine in Bruges, Leuven, Ghent, and Stuttgart. Since 1990, he is in charge of the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory at the Ghent University Hospital. In 1994, he became professor of clinical chemistry at the Ghent University. He is also a member of the Doctoral Committee of the faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Ghent University). Prof. Dr. Delanghe has authored or co-authored over 400 peer reviewed publications, over 20 book chapters, and over 400 published abstracts. He is the vice-president of the Royal Belgian Society for Clinical Chemistry. Since 2003, he has been co-editor-in-chief of Clinica Chimica Acta. He has spoken on his research throughout Europe, the U.S., Africa, and Asia. He has been visiting professor in Lithuania, Zimbabwe, China, and Rwanda.

Dr. Stephanie Kennedy

Dr Stephanie Kennedy is a haematologist at the NHLS Universitas Academic Laboratory and senior lecturer at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein. She holds an FCPath (SA) Haem, MMed (Haem), MSc (Internal Medicine), MBChB, and BMus all cum laude. Stephanie is particularly interested in multidisciplinary research and is currently involved in projects at the interface of haematology and infectious diseases, including mycobacteria, fungi, and HIV. As manager of the Universitas Academic Hospital Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) Clinic, she is involved in the clinical care of patients with bleeding disorders, as well as research related to HHT, other bleeding disorders, and iron deficiency. As a pathologist, Stephanie particularly enjoys morphology and flow cytometry.

Prof. Zivanai Cuthbert Chapanduka

Zivanai Cuthbert Chapanduka MD (Zi) is currently associate professor and head of the division of haematological pathology at Stellenbosch University and National Health Laboratory Service department of haematology in Cape Town South Africa.

He obtained two diplomas in medical laboratory technology and the MBChB degrees from the University of Zimbabwe. He did his specialist haematology training at University of Natal Medical School, graduating FCPath(SA).Haematology in 1995. Zi then worked as a Transfusion Medicine Fellow and Deputy Medical Director at the Natal Blood Transfusion. After 4 years in private pathology practice, he worked abroad in clinical and laboratory haematology, and laboratory administration. He graduated, MBA(Liverpool) in 2008 and worked in the pharmaceutical industry as Medical and Regulatory Director, and Corporate Affairs for South and Sub-Saharan Africa then in Sales and Marketing in the UAE, Oman and Bahrain.

Zi has many research interests. Having started his research career in dietary iron overload, his current research portfolio includes the subjects: Leadership, Management and Administration, Artificial Intelligence in diagnostic pathology, Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, Multiple Myeloma and general laboratory haematology.

Prof Chapanduka is a Trustee and Senator of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa and President of the Federation of South African Societies of Pathology. He sits on several committees of Stellenbosch University and boards of directors of private companies.