profile
of personnel
Medical Research Council of SA (MRC)
Dr
Bernard Fourie
Citizenship: SA
Qualification: PhD
 Experience
Obtained
MSc from the University of Pretoria (Faculty of Science) and
PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand (Faculty of Medicine).
Appointed as Director of the MRC Tuberculosis Research Institute
in 1990. Currently Director of the MRC Tuberculosis Research
Lead Programme (TRLP). Active fields of research are in drug
efficacy, clinical trials and pharmacokinetics (with Dept of
Pharmacology, UCT). Also leads the TRLP’s Drug Research
Laboratory (Pretoria) for in vitro and in vivo drug evaluation,
and a clinical trials programme established at the TRLP’s
Clinical and Biomedical Research Unit at King George V Hospital
in Durban. Acts as Coordinator of the CDC-funded South African
TB Clinical Trials Consortium which includes 12 institutional
and 50 individual members. Member and Secretary of the Scientific
Advisory Committee of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development
(GATB), and Executive Coordinator of the GATB office in Cape
Town. Consultant to the WHO on TB drugs, diagnostics and vaccines.
Member of the tuberculosis expert panel of the European Commission.
Associate Editor of the International Journal of Tuberculosis
and Lung Disease. Member of the Biological Committee of the
Medicines Control Council of South Africa. Holds several local
and international advisory committee appointments, and has published
widely in the field of tuberculosis.
Contribution
to project
Validation of compounds passing first screen for in vitro and
in vivo anti-mycobacterial activity by extended test procedures.
Assist with or undertake advanced pre-clinical evaluation of
candidate compounds and with identifying a potential label indication.
Dr
Niresh Bhagwandin
Citizenship: SA
Qualification: PhD, MBA
 Experience
Dr
Niresh Bhagwandin has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the
University of Cape Town. In 1997 he was awarded the prestigious
British Chevening Scholarship to study in the UK where he obtained
the degree MBA (with distinction) in Health Planning and Management
from Keele University. He is currently Manager: Business Development
at the Medical Research Council (MRC). He is currently chairperson
of the Advisory Board of the National Laser Centre and a member
of the National Research Foundation (NRF) Access Grant Committee.
One of his main activities is providing management support for
projects awarded through the Innovation Fund. During the past
three years, he is/was involved in several multi-million rand
Innovation Fund Projects. He also drives the MRC outreach programme
whose aim is to transfer research skills to some of the provinces
of SA. In addition, he liases closely with local and international
funders, provides client funded interface management and promotes
cross-sectoral and trans-disciplinary collaboration.
Contribution
to project
Project and business management
Dr
Johan Louw
Citizenship: SA
Qualification: PhD
 Experience
Johan Louw is a Senior Specialist Scientist at the Diabetes
Research Group (DRG) of the MRC. He obtained his PhD in 1995
from the Department of Physiology, University of the Western
Cape. One of the objectives of the PhD project was to characterise
the Vervet monkey for diabetes research. Differentiation of
adult pancreatic endocrine cells and their distribution and
relative volumes under conditions of normal and high fat feeding
were also investigated and studies on indices of pancreatic
cell proliferation were included for the investigation of possible
therapies for the disease. Dr Louw has been involved with diabetes
research for 15 years and has experience in animal husbandry,
histology, immunocytochemistry, and all forms of microscopy,
image analysis, and dietary formulation. He is also responsible
for the management of all histological and physiological projects
at DRG and the supervision of postgraduate students in studies
on the effects of diet in the adult and in utero. The most recent
projects involve looking for sub cellular markers for early
detection of diabetes in the monkey model and the testing of
indigenous plant(s) for anti-diabetic properties
Contribution
to project
Testing the efficacy and toxicity of the bioactive compound(s)
isolated from plants, for the treatment of diabetes, using animal
and cell culture models.
Dr
Rajendra Maharaj
Citizenship: SA
Qualification: PhD
 Experience
Rajendra Maharaj has a PhD in Entomology from the University
of Natal. He has previous experience in heading up control programmes
at the national level, for malaria as well as emerging and re-emerging
infectious diseases. He serves on the national Department of
Health’s Malaria Advisory Group as well as the subcommittee
for Vector Control. Currently he is a Specialist Scientist in
the Malaria Research Lead Programme of the MRC. His main areas
of interest include Vector biology and control, including integrated
vector management. Improving management of malaria control programmes
through the use of GIS as well as developing regional capacity
towards more efficient malaria control. He has served as a temporary
advisor to the WHO with regards to the use of DDT for malaria
control as well as a technical advisor to the International
Atomic Energy Association with regard to the Sterile Insect
Technique. He is currently responsible for testing insecticidal
and repellency activity against the main malaria vectors in
South Africa for commercial companies as well as for the Registrar
of Insecticides and is a representative on the WHO Pesticide
Evaluation Subcommittee (WHOPES). He is also a principal investigator
for a study to determine the extent of insecticide resistance
in the mosquito vectors.
Contribution
to project
Responsible for testing plant extracts for insecticidal and
repellency activity against malaria vector mosquitoes
Dr
Motlalepula Matsabisa
Citizenship: SA
Qualification: PhD
 Experience
Dr Matsabisa has a PhD in Pharmacology and is registered as
Medical Scientist with Professional Board of Medical Scientists.
He is currently the manager of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems
(Health) Office (IKS) at Medical Research Council. He serves
on Medicines Control Council and he represents the Complementary
Medicines Working Group and African Traditional Medicines committees
of Medicines Control Council (MCC). He is a member of the MCC.
Dr Matsabisa is actively involved with the DNDi (Drugs for Neglected
Disease initiative) project. A project that seeks to develop
new drugs for development of neglected diseases. He is involved
at a scientific level with the innovation fund on Antimalarial
Drug Discovery Project funded by Department of Science and Technology.
Motlalepula has liaised and has developed good relations with
traditional communities and healers. Motlalepula has developed
a protocol for fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising
from the utilization of natural resources and information with
traditional communities and healers. He is currently developing
protocol for assessing claims for cures from traditional medicines
and designing clinical trial testing protocols for traditional
medicines. Dr Matsabisa has supervised a total of 10 honours
and MSc students in traditional medicines research projects.
He has publications in natural products, made more than 20 presentations
both nationally and internationally on issues of traditional
medicines, traditional knowledge, and benefit-sharing and intellectual
property rights. He co-authored the Traditional Healer’s
Primary Healthcare handbook. Currently he holds a provisional
patent on a novel compound isolated from a medicinal plant with
antimalarial action and is working on a compound that reverses
chloroquine resistance isolated from a traditional medicinal
plant. Dr Matsabisa has won prestigious fellowships; Roche Foundation
and SA/British Council Fellowships to pursue his MSc and PhD
project in drug development for malaria from traditional medicines
respectively. He has contributed both nationally and internationally
in policy-making bodies in traditional medicines. Currently
he is involved with outreach programs for the IKS office with
traditional healers and schools for the Medical Research Council.
Contribution
to project
Intellectual knowledge systems; support for clinical trial development.
Prof Peter Ian Folb
Citizenship: South African
Qualification: MB, ChB, MD, FCP (SA), FRCP (London), FRS (South Africa)
 Experience
Peter Folb was head of the department of pharmacology at the University of Cape Town and chief specialist in internal medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town FROM 1976 - 2003. Previously, he was senior lecturer in clinical pharmacology at the University of London at Guy’s Hospital. He joined the MRC in 2004. He has a doctorate in experimental pharmacology and is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London. From 1980 to 1998 he served as chair of the South African Medicines Control Council, the national drug regulatory authority. He has supervised more than 80 postgraduate students, and has served as a consultant to the World Bank, Medecins sans Frontieres and to the World Health Organization over many years. Since 1996 he has been chair of the WHO special task force for research into severe malaria, and he chairs the WHO scientific advisory committee in vaccine safety. Peter Folb serves, inter alia, as member of the WHO strategic advisory group of experts (SAGE) into vaccine policies worldwide and as member of the WHO/TDR proof of principle committee that directs the scientific and strategic development of new drugs for neglected tropical diseases. He is director of the South African Medical Research Council Traditional Medicines Research Unit, based jointly at the University of Cape Town and the University of the Western Cape, and director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Policy Research, also based at the two institutions. For many years he was co-editor of Meyler’s Side Effects of Drugs – the international encyclopaedia of adverse drug events. His special interests are in the fields of clinical and experimental pharmacology, drug safety and the scientific basis of new drug development. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.
Contribution to project
Project leader; scientific collaboration as member of UCT research team; supervisor of limited number of postgraduate students in the project. |
