I’m a Principal Medical Scientist and Lecturer within the Division of Haematopathology, Department of Pathology and jointly appointed by the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) and Stellenbosch University (SU) at Tygerberg Hospital, Western Cape, South Africa. I’m involved in diagnostic services, the development of diagnostic laboratory tests, research, the teaching and training of staff and students in laboratory, diagnostic and research skills, managing research funds and projects as well as quality management and regulatory compliance. I’ve also been involved in the development and are currently overseeing the departmental research and training flow cytometry laboratory, cell culture facility and a small biobank. As the Haematology Molecular diagnostic scientist and the scientific and operational manager of various laboratory research units, I oversee the day to day diagnostic and research operations in association with other research and technical staff. I’m GCP, GLP and IATA certified and ISO 15189 trained. Over the years I’ve gained expertise in other biobank and genomic related operations ranging from governance, ethics, LIMS, sample and data sharing and protection, sample QC, risk management and QA through to sustainability. Ive been the basic science, genetics and biobank representative on the SU health research ethics committee (HREC) and currently a national HPCSA Intern Scientist assessor for the discipline of Haematology. I’m also the treasurer of the South African Society of Haematology (SASH). Promoting the science of biobanking, genetics and cancer as well as medical laboratory science within South Africa and the rest of Africa is a key mission and Im involved in various projects associated with it. To date, data protection, sharing, and work related to biobanking and POPIA is a key research focus point. I serve as a co-chair of the European, Middle Eastern and African Society of biobanking (ESBB) African working group. 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. Through these initiatives, I’ve been heavily involved in related policy developments as well as the harmonization of SOP’s involving processes and QC.Other research interest includes molecular applications in leukemia diagnosis, cancer resistance mechanisms as well the role of epigenetics particularly miRNA’s in haematological pathologies.
