Alta Kloppers is the founder of Alta Kloppers & Associates, one of the leading dietetic practices in the country.

Alta Kloppers completed a B Dietetics and Post- Graduate Diploma in Hospital Dietetics at the University of Pretoria as well as a MSc Dietetics from the University of the Free State. Alta is well-known and respected in the field of dietetics and a past member of the Executive Committee for the Association for Dietetics in South Africa (ADSA) as the portfolio holder for private practicing dietitians.

Alta has a passion for sharing her practical knowledge gained over three decades of clinical practice with fellow dietitians and other healthcare professionals and is regularly invited to present to dietitians at workshops and congresses.

In her daily practice, she has a special interest in the nutritional management of critically ill patients, patients with chronic kidney disease as well as that of infants and toddlers with feeding difficulties including food allergies. Having trained for and completed two Comrades marathons, Alta also thoroughly enjoys consulting long distance road runners.

Finally, as an expert witness, Alta has extensive experience in compiling medico-legal reports.

Associate Professor Vanker is a paediatric pulmonologist at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, University of Cape Town, South Africa, where she is involved in the care of children with a wide range of both congenital and acquired respiratory conditions.

She completed her paediatric pulmonology training at Tygerberg Children’s Hospital and Stellenbosch University in 2010. She is also a clinical researcher with a particular interest in the environmental determinants of childhood lung diseases, which was the subject of her PhD entitled “Indoor air pollution and environmental tobacco smoke exposure in a South African birth cohort study” and continues working in this field.

Professor Vanker is vice-president of the South African Thoracic Society, board member of the Indian Ocean Pulmonology Society (SPOI) and a member of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) Environmental Committee. She also serves on the South African National Department of Health Air Quality and Health Focus Group and the National Environmental Consultative and Advisory (NECA) 3A forum, an air quality advisory committee to the South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

Dr. Alex van Blydenstein is a pulmonologist based at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is currently completing herPhD, which focuses on the clinical manifestations of patients with hypoxaemic COVID-19 — a topic of critical importance during and beyond the pandemic.

With a strong interest in respiratory physiology and critical care, Dr van Blydenstein has contributed to the field through both clinical work and academic research. She has authored/co-authored 30 peer-reviewed publications to date.

She remains passionate about advancing the understanding of respiratory illnesses in resource-constrained settings and continues to advocate for evidence-based, patient-centered care.

Dr Bentley is a general practitioner who has been seeing patients with all types of sleep problems, both adults and children, off and on over the last 30 years. She has run both clinical and research sleep laboratories in private practice at the Morningside clinic and the Wits School of Physiology. She has a PhD in Restless legs Syndrome and Periodic Limb Movement disorder. She is the founding chairperson of the new South African Society for Sleep and Health (SASSH). As chairman of the Medical sub-committee for SASSH she wrote and the diagnostic guidelines for sleep testing in South Africa and is currently working on a consensus statement for pharmacological management for insomnia. She has supervised more than 30 post-graduate students, has over 30 published peer-reviewed articles and two book chapters as well as writing articles for and editing Sleep Matters for 14 years. She is currently in private practice and runs a home-based apnea screening company as well as the first combined clinical, research and sleep training clinic.

Dr Candice Royal is a paediatrician and allergist in private practice at Royal Paediatrics and Allergy. Here she manages children with complex allergic conditions from Cape Town, South Africa and beyond. She is additionally a part-time consultant in the Allergy Department at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital where she is involved in training as well as service delivery in the public sector. Candice has a special interest in food allergy and is passionate about managing long-term health conditions in a holistic manner.

Dr Caradee Wright (PhD in Preventive and Social Medicine) is a Chief Specialist Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council leading the Climate and Health Research Programme. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pretoria and the University of Johannesburg.

Dr Wright’s research is in environmental health epidemiology to understand climate change and air pollution impacts on human health and well-being to inform adaptation, interventions and policy development in Africa. Her research fields also include solar ultraviolet radiation dosimetry and skin cancer prevention.

Dr Wright has published more than 200 research articles in peer-reviewed accredited journals and was a member of the World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines Committee, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 6 Africa Chapter Author, and Chapter Lead Author of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) / Stockholm Environment Institute African Assessment on Climate Change and Human Health.

Dr Wright is currently Technical Advisor to the World Health Organization (Air Quality, and Ethics), the International Livestock Research Institute (One Health), and the Health Effects Institute (Global Health Oversight Committee); the Clean Air Fund (Grants and Charitable Activities Committee); and a Review Lead for the National Institute of Health (NIH) / Nature Journal Collection on Data Science for Health in Africa (Environmental Health / Climate Change).

Dr Wright was named as one of the 2024 NIH Climate and Health Scholars and worked with the Fogarty International Centre.

Dr Carla van Heerden is a Chemical Pathologist who is currently employed in the Immunology Department at the Ampath National Reference Laboratory in Centurion. She obtained her MBChB degree at the University of Pretoria in 2012 and completed her postgraduate training in Chemical Pathology at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2021. Her special interests include allergies and autoimmune disorders. She is also a member of the Allergy Society of South Africa (ALLSA).

Dr Gissing graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 2013 and completed her Community Service year at the Natalspruit Hospital in Alberton. Following Community Service, she started working in private practice in Pretoria at the Wilgers Hospital in the Cardiothoracic unit.

In 2016 she started working at the Netcare Milpark Hospital in the cardiothoracic and transplant unit, completing a master’s degree in Physiotherapy.

In 2022 she opened her own practice where I have become mainly involved in treatment and rehabilitation of acute and chronic respiratory conditions. I am actively involved in the Milpark lung transplant and pulmonary hypertension team for which we offer rehabilitation on various clinical phases.

Dr Cascia Day is one of two registered Physician Allergists in South Africa. She is the recipient of the SAMRC Clinician-Researcher Development Programme Scholarship, and the Discovery Foundation Academic Fellowship award for her PhD work on ACE-inhibitor Angioedema Biomarkers in Africa.

Dr Day was awarded her Masters in Medicine with distinction in 2019 and graduated as a Specialist Physician at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2020. She then went on to sub-specialise in Allergology and Clinical Immunology, graduating in 2023.

Dr Day is a member of the steering committee for the International Network of Antibiotic Allergy Nations (iNAAN) with a focus on penicillin allergy de-labelling in Africa, and she has been the Co-Chair of the UCT Department of the Medicine Research Symposium Committee since 2023.

Dr Day is a clinician scientist with experience in both original research, and industry trials at the UCT Lung Institute Allergy and Immunology Unit. She has published in high impact journals and has presented her research both locally and internationally. Dr Day is passionate about improving allergy education for health care-workers and expanding access to allergy care in Africa.

Dr Farouk Mamdoo graduated with an MBBCh from the University of Witwatersrand Medical School and obtained the FCP(SA) and Certificate in Cardiology(SA) and was awarded the Jock Gear Memorial Award and SA Heart Award for best oral congress presentation.

He underwent training in Interventional Cardiology at the Washington Hospital Centre,(USA), Advanced Echocardiography at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Centre,(USA), Cardiac Synchronisation Therapy at Santa Maria Della Misericordia Hospital, (Italy).

He was Director of the Transoesophageal Echocardiography Unit and began the 3D Echocardiography Service at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital publishing the TORCH Registry Data and various other publications/presentations in journals such as Circulation, the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging and the SA Heart Journal.

Dr Mamdoo is a Lecturer and co-ordinator for the Graduate Entry Medical Programme in the Unit for Undergraduate Medical School Education, the Department of Physiology and the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand as well as an External Examiner.

He is a Director for The Cardiovascular Research and Training Unit in Johannesburg and the Structural Heart Centre at the Netcare Alberton Hospital with proctoring roles for a number of multi-national companies for interventional procedures including complex interventional coronary revascularisation, structural heart interventions eg TAVI, LAA Occlusion, balloon valvotomy, pacing, cardiac resynchronisation therapy, 3D transoesophageal echocardiography and cardio-oncology imaging. 

His interests include acute coronary syndromes and heart failure management and structural heart disease.

He was Congress Chair for the SA Heart Annual Congress for 2022 and 2023 and is on a number of advisory bodies for device and pharmaceutical companies.

He is the current President of the Johannesburg Branch of SA Heart.

Dr Gideon Titus undergraduate and postgraduate training was at the University of Stellenbosch. He then moved to the University of the Witwatersrand to complete his Pulmonology Fellowship. Dr Titus is currently working as a consultant Pulmonologist at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

Jacqui Schewitz works in private practice in Johannesburg South Africa. Jacqui completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2003 and 2013 respectively. Her research involved the functioning of the diaphragm. She works at Netcare Sunward Park and Netcare Waterfall City Hospital where she is involved in clinical care.

Jacqui has published internationally and nationally on the diaphragm as well as the thoracic post-surgical patient. She has presented at WCPT, Critical Care Congress, SATS and SASP congress’.  Jacqui facilitated the postgraduate course CPT 1 as well as lectured on the course.

Dr Keketso Mopeli is a Specialist Paediatric Pulmonologist from Johannesburg who specialises in the holistic care of children with respiratory conditions.

Dr Mopeli studied medicine at The University of Witwatersrand and graduated in 2007. She furthered her studies again through Wits University and graduated in the speciality of paediatrics in 2016. Since then, she has been working at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in the paediatrics and paediatric pulmonology departments. She completed her fellowship and qualified as a paediatric pulmonologist in 2021. She is also a joint lecturer at Wits University and teaches undergraduate medical students as well as paediatric registrars, and paediatric pulmonology fellows.

Dr Mopeli can be found in state as well as private practice diagnosing and treating children with a range of respiratory conditions. She is passionate about raising public awareness about health and respiratory issues using platforms such as social media.

Dr Kitso-Lesedi Mrubata is a dedicated paediatric pulmonologist based in South Africa, with a special interest in complex respiratory diseases in children, including asthma, chronic cough and critical care respiratory support. She is passionate about advancing paediatric lung health through evidence-based medicine, multi-disciplinary collaboration, and patient-centred care.

Dr. Mrubata completed her paediatric training and sub-specialty fellowship in paediatric pulmonology through the university of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and the Discovery Fellowship Foundation. She is currently a candidate for a Masters in Science focused on Respiratory Syncytial virus and Covid-19.

Dr Malebo Makunyane is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cape Town Lung Institute. She contributes to a multi-disciplinary project focused on mapping and monitoring the respiratory effects of climate variability, aeroallergens, and air pollution in South Africa. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Pretoria, with a strong background in biostatistics and statistics. Her doctoral research examined the association between climate variability and cardiorespiratory health outcomes across five major South African cities. Her current work integrates environmental data, including climate, pollen, and air quality, to investigate the drivers of respiratory illness. She also explores the use of proxy data such as over-the-counter medication sales to support syndromic surveillance and the early detection of respiratory disease surges.  

Dr Marilyn Lungile Gabuza is the clinical head of department of Diagnostic Radiology at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital and has collective public and private practice experience of 15 years as a qualified radiologist.

Dr Gabuza spent 8 years in private practice at Donald Gordon Medical Centre before resuming her career in public service in 2023 based at the teaching institution affiliated with the University of the Witwatersrand. Following an observership in MRI at Wits Donald Gordon medical centre in 2012 and has since had a special interest in body imaging including chest.

Dr Gabuza has attended various radiology congresses focusing on body imaging, chest included. Current research includes reading 250 baseline and 12 month follow up High Resolution CT scans of proven TB patients and is titled ‘Inflammation and Fibrosis in Pulmonary TB: The INFIN-TB Study’.

Dr van Dyk completed her undergraduate studies at the University of the Free State in 1992, post-graduate studies as Anesthetist at the University of the Witwatersrand before completing the Fellowship in Critical care in 2000 at the College of Medicine.She holds a Diploma in Clinical Ultrasound from
the University of Melbourne and has been involved in ECLS delivery since 2012. Presently, the Director of the Netcare Unitas ECMO Centre.

A South African County Representative on the SWAAC ELSO Steering Committee and am the current President Elect for the SWAAC ELSO Chapter.

Dr Meshandree Naidoo is a paediatrician with a special interest in children’s allergies.

Dr Naidoo obtained her medical degree in 2001 through the University of Witwatersrand and received the Dallas McKenzie prize in Community Paediatrics. She further completed her fellowship in Paediatrics in 2008 also through the University of Witwatersrand.

Dr Naidoo has worked in private practice in Johannesburg North for 16 years. In this time, her interest in allergies piqued as did the number of children she treated within the scope of her private practice. She undertook the Diploma of Allergology in 2016 and is currently a member of the Allergy society of South Africa as well as the Allergy Foundation of South Africa.

Dr Naidoo regularly attends allergy conferences, has assisted with allergy media campaigns for the Allergy Foundation and is keen to keep learning. She currently runs an allergic clinic at The Parks Paediatrics in Parkview, Johannesburg.

Dr Mohith Debising is a specialist pulmonologist currently practicing at Helen Joseph Hospital within the Department of Internal Medicine. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Pretoria, followed by specialist training in Internal Medicine and Pulmonology at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Dr. Debising qualified as a pulmonologist in 2021 and continues to be actively involved in clinical practice, training, and academic pursuits in the field of respiratory medicine.

Dr Nimmisha Govind completed both her undergraduate medical and physician training at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has been the Academic Head of Rheumatology, of the University of the Witwatersrand and heads the Division of Rheumatology at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital since 2018. She was a recipient of the Carnegie Clinician Scientist Award and completed her PhD on the ‘Genetics of Rheumatoid Arthritis’ in collaboration with the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, University of Alabama in Birmingham, USA and the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular bioscience, SA.

Dr Govind’s interest is in various aspects of rheumatoid arthritis and is she an executive committee member of METEOR, an international collaboration on RA, also the Africa Lead of the Myositis Collaboration and Trail Consortium. She serves on the editorial board of the African Journal of Rheumatology and the steering committee for the South African Rheumatism and Arthritis Association Rheumatoid Arthritis management guidelines. She is an executive member of the College of Physicians of South Africa and the national convenor of the clinical competency of the physician examination.

Dr Pauline Howell is a deputy director at Wits Health Consortium’s Clinical HIV Research Unit (CHRU) and site leader at both the Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital in Johannesburg and the Isango Lethemba TB Research Unit in Gqeberha. With 12 years’ experience as a clinical trial investigator, Dr Howell has contributed to landmark drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) trials, including STREAM, Nix, ZeNix and BEAT-Tuberculosis which all led to WHO guideline changes.

Dr Howell is a member of the South African National Clinical Advisory Committee, a ministerial committee that advises the National Department of Health on treatment for DR TB. She is also a member of the IMPAACT TB Scientific Committee, a network specific to mothers and children. Dr Howell is committed to developing shorter, safer, and more effective DR-TB treatments for all patients, including children and pregnant women.

Pieter qualified as a Paediatrician in 2009 at the University of the Free State. In 2017, he earned the South African Certificate in Asthma Care (NAEP), and in 2018, he obtained a Diploma in Allergology from the College of Family Physicians of South Africa. That same year, he became a certified Allergologist at the University of Cape Town and went on to complete his M.Phil. degree in Allergology in 2019, graduating cum laude.

He worked as a full-time subspecialist in Allergology at MediClinic Bloemfontein whilst also holding a part-time position as a senior consultant at the University of the Free State. In this role, he taught Allergology, Asthma, and Pulmonology to both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, as well as registrars.

Currently, Pieter serves on the Executive Committee of the South African National Asthma Education Programme (NAEP) and the Allergy Society of South Africa (ALLSA). He is also a member of the South African Allergic Rhinitis Working Group. He has been appointed as an extraordinary consultant at the University of the Free State and is now in full-time private practice at MediClinic Panorama Hospital in Cape Town.

Dr Karabus is the Vice-Chairperson of the Allergy Society of South Africa and is a co-director of the Allergy Foundation of South Africa.

She maintains the position of consultant and senior lecturer In Allergology in the Department of Allergy and Asthma at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and UCT. She is an associate at the Chest and Allergy Centre, Netcare Christiaan Barnard Hospital, a unique multi-disciplinary centre offering a combined allergy and pulmonology service.

Dr Karabus is a member of various organisations including the Allergy Society of South Africa, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. She serves on the editorial board of the Current Allergy and Clinical Immunology journal as well as the European Medical Journal, Allergy and Immunology section.

Dr Karabus has published several articles in medical journals and is a co -author of the ALLSA Handbook of Allergy as well as the book, Allergy Sense for families: a practical guide.

Sibongile Walaza is a medical doctor with MSc in Epidemiology and biostatistics and a PhD in Public Health from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Her experience in public health and infectious diseases spans over 20 years. currently She is employed as the section head of the epidemiology team for the Centre for Respiratory Disease and Meningitis (CRDM) at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa.

In this position, she is responsible for overseeing the implementation of surveillance and research programmes and for co-ordinating/managing/ training the teams conducting surveillance/research and responding to outbreaks that involve pathogens that cause respiratory diseases and meningitis.

Dr Walaza is the principal investigator for the pneumonia surveillance and influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance programmes. She has a joint appointment as a senior lecturer at the School of Public Health,
University of the Witwatersand and has co-supervised a number of Msc students in the field of epidemiology.

She has published over 125 peer-reviewed articles in the field of influenza and other respiratory illnesses. She has contributed to the development of guidelines for prevention and management of influenza in South Africa and is a member of several committees and working groups for National Department of Health and WHO.

Dr Sylvia van den Berg is a Clinical Pathologist at Ampath Laboratories and currently serves as Head of the Immunology Laboratory at the Ampath National Reference Laboratory in Pretoria. She has been based at Ampath’s National Reference Laboratory in the Department of Clinical Immunology since 2010. In addition, she has served as an Extraordinary Lecturer at the University of Pretoria, affiliated with the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Steve Biko Academic Hospital, since January 2016. In this role, she contributes to the Paediatric Primary Immunodeficiency Clinic and provides lectures in Immunology to both undergraduate medical students, postgraduate trainees and clinicians.

She has published many articles in peer-reviewed journals and remains involved in academic research. Dr van den Berg is also a member of several national and international professional societies, including the Allergy Society of South Africa (ALLSA), the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), and Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases South Africa (PIDDSA).

Dr Sze Wai Chan is a medical oncologist in private practice at Sandton Oncology, and West Rand Oncology, Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the director of clinical research at Sandton Oncology and is involved as principal and sub-investigator in local and international clinical trials. She is a member of ASCO, ESMO, IASLC and is an executive member of SASMO since 2022.

Dr Chan is the vice president of the Melanoma Society South Africa (MSSA). She has authored in peer-reviewed journals and has presented abstracts locally and abroad. She serves on both local and international Advisory Boards. She was trained professionally at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and she was involved previously with the Wits HREC (Human Research Ethics Committee). Her main oncology interests are lung cancer, skin cancer, head and neck cancer, and urogenital cancer.

Dr Chan serves on the scientific programme committee for World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC 2025) in Barcelona, Spain, and is an invited speaker at the conference.

Dr Takudzwa Matuvhunye is a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Cape Town’s Lung Institute, within the Allergy and Immunology Unit. He holds a PhD in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases from the University of the Witwatersrand. His current research focuses on monitoring airborne pollen and fungal spores across South African aerobiomes. He employs immunological, molecular, and sequencing-based techniques to identify outdoor and indoor allergens, with the aim of improving our understanding of environmental drivers of allergic disease.

Dr Vanessa Govender is a registered Specialist in Occupational Medicine and Director of Masakhane Strategic Consulting (Pty) Ltd. With over 30 years of experience, she brings deep, global expertise in mining health leadership, occupational lung disease, and health governance, uniquely bridging clinical, academic, regulatory, and corporate spheres.

She holds a Medical Degree, a Diploma in Occupational Health, and a Master of Public Health (Policy and Management) from the University of the Witwatersrand, with additional qualifications in Travel and Aviation Medicine. Her executive education includes training from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, London Business School, Wits Business School, and Cambridge University.

Dr Govender has led occupational health portfolios at major companies such as Gold Fields, Aveng Group, and Anglo American, and has consulted widely for the Minerals Council South Africa. Her
work spans disease prevention, occupational health systems design, and policy development, grounded in clinical expertise and strategic insight.

Her regulatory background includes a five-year tenure as Chairperson of the Certification Committee at the Medical Bureau for Occupational Diseases, where she adjudicated complex pneumoconioses claims. She serves on the Medical Advisory Panel of the Tshiamiso Trust, established to oversee compensation for former gold mineworkers with silicosis and TB, following a landmark R5 billion class action settlement.

She remains committed to academic advancement as an Honorary Lecturer at the Wits School of Public Health and serves as an Associate of the College of Public Health Medicine of South Africa.

Her presentation will revisit pneumoconioses through the lens of diagnostic complexity, ILO classification, and the evolving path to compensation.

Dr Warren Lowman presently holds the position of Consultant Pathologist in Clinical Microbiology and Infection Prevention & Control, Pathcare/Vermaak Pathologists and Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre.

He is an honorary lecturer at the Department of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Wits School of Pathology, University of the Witwatersrand When it comes to medicine and the field of microbiology I am a skeptic at heart…not the skeptic who doubts, but he who investigates research, as opposed to he who asserts and thinks that he has found. This quote by Miguel de Unamuno has guided me well in navigating a profession filled with grey areas. This challenging field I have dedicated the best part of 2 decades to and it continues to enthrall me. I am deeply critical and analytical in my approach, seeking ways to improve and do things differently as opposed to the status quo.

At work I am a pathologist in clinical microbiology passionate about bugs with a particular focus on the clinical application and integration of microbiological diagnostic services in specialised medical care. Bacteriology is my first love, and I have a particular interest in hospital pathogens and the associated diagnostic, antimicrobial treatment and prevention aspects of these bugs. Surveillance of hospital-acquired infections, multi-drug resistant organisms, and the application of data derived from hospital surveillance systems is key focus area. I am actively involved in these activities on a daily basis where I balance my time between laboratory-based diagnostic work and clinical ward rounds focusing on ICU/transplant-related microbiology and infection prevention and control aspects. At heart I am an educationalist in my field, passionate about sharing knowledge in the field. I am actively involved in numerous academic-related activities, serve on the exco of the South African Society of Clinical Microbiology, and seek opportunities or platforms to share my knowledge.

Outside of work I am kept busy by my 3 sons, wonderful wife, nature, cooking and the odd-game of golf, now also padel!

Dr Werner Hoek is an Ear Nose and Throat specialist practising from Mediclinic Gariep Hospital in Kimberley. He performs sessions at the state sector at Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital.
 
Dr Hoek was born and bred in Bloemfontein. He matriculated from Sand du Plessis High school in 1996. He completed his degree with honours from the University of the Free State in 2002. 
 
He completed his post-graduate studies in Otorhinolaryngology at the University of the Free State in July 2010 and transferred back to Kimberley. He practices as a general ENT specialist with keen interest in the management of allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis especially allergic and invasive fungal rhinosinusitis. He has a keen interest in Palynology and has been a member of the SAPNET team since 2019 where he manages the pollen monitoring for the Kimberley site.

He has been part of some of the publications that have been produced from this team. He also published on the allergen sensitisation patterns from the Northern Cape Province.

Ziyaad Dangor is the clinical research director at the world-renowned Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA) at the University of the Witwatersrand. He also works as a paediatric pulmonologist in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. His research interests include paediatric lung health, infectious diseases, health advocacy and medical education. Ziyaad has undertaken investigator-initiated, original research using a range of clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory-based research techniques to establish a successful research output, including the publication of cited papers in high-impact factor journals in the field.

Ziyaad is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching at the University of Witwatersrand. He is the ex-president of the South African Paediatric Association, an examiner in the College of Paediatricians of South Africa, and an instructor with the Advanced Paediatric Life Support Group.

Marinda McDonald is a medical doctor with a special interest in allergy care. She earned her MBChB from the University of Pretoria in 1998 and later completed a Diploma in Allergies (2004) through the College of Medicine of South Africa and a Certificate in Allergy (2014) from the University of Southampton.

Dr McDonald is the founder of The Allergy Clinic, where she offers a wide range of diagnostic and treatment services, including immunotherapy and food challenges. Dr. McDonald is also the chairperson of the Rhinitis Interest Group of the Allergy Society of South Africa, an examiner for the CMSA Diploma in Allergology.

Outside of medicine, she enjoys outdoor activities and values time with her family. Dr. McDonald is committed to delivering world-class allergy care and advancing the field through collaboration and education.

D. Rendani Mamathuba is a distinguished Paediatric Pulmonologist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, with over two decades of clinical experience in paediatrics and intensive care. He currently serves at Netcare Sunninghill Hospital, where he manages critically ill children, including those requiring ventilatory support and post-cardiac surgery care. His multi-disciplinary consultations span across neurology, cardiology, paediatric surgery, and general practice, affirming his reputation as a sought-after respiratory specialist.

A graduate of the University of Cape Town, Dr. Mamathuba holds specialist qualifications from the South African College of Paediatricians, including a Fellowship in Paediatrics and a Certificate in Paediatric Pulmonology. His academic journey has been enriched through esteemed training programmes like PATS/MECOR and the APLS Instructor Course.

Dr Mamathuba is also a published researcher whose work on paediatric empyema has appeared in the South African Medical Journal and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, contributing significantly to local understanding of respiratory infections in children.

He is a member of multiple professional societies, including the European Respiratory Society, South African Thoracic Society, and Critical Care Society of South Africa. His dedication to both clinical excellence and academic advancement continues to inspire peers and improve outcomes for paediatric patients across the region.

Dr Tarmara Kerbelker is a paediatrician employed at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and the University of Cape Town. She completed sub-specialist allergy training in 2013 and currently works within the Division of Ambulatory and Emergency Paediatrics. She is extensively involved in health leadership and management, clinical paediatric care and postgraduate teaching and training. With her strong systems knowledge within health, she navigates the complex world of Government and University processes, to advocate for collaborative paediatric healthcare.

She has examined the Diploma in Allergy since 2014, the Diploma in Child Health since 2016 and is the national co-convenor of the DCH since 2021. She examines exit examinations at both specialist and sub-specialist level and convenes a University module on Health Management and Leadership. She is the current chairperson of the Allergy Society of South Africa (ALLSA)and assumed her term of office in May 2025. She recognises the national need for training in allergy and is passionate about leveraging available resources to train all categories healthcare worker.

Lara Wayburne is the Chief Health Intelligence Actuary at Discovery Health, and leads a multi-disciplinary team of actuaries, data scientists, and analysts, collaborating closely with clinicians and health experts. Their mission is to transform large and complex health data into actionable insights that drive value-based, cost-effective, and high-quality healthcare solutions across medical schemes and insurance products while strengthening health systems. Lara leads insights across healthcare service provider contracting and risk management, value-based care, healthcare transformation, population health management and claims risk reporting.

With over 18 years of experience in Southern Africa’s healthcare sector, Lara has provided strategic and actuarial consulting to a diverse range of stakeholders, including medical schemes, employers, health insurers, healthcare providers, administrators and managed care organizations as well as government departments. Her expertise spans actuarial advisory services locally, across several African countries, and in India and has encompassed all actuarial aspects of medical schemes and health insurance advisory. Project highlights also include National Health Insurance proposals, generic medicine pricing strategies, tariff pricing, population projections, health service delivery models, health fund design and valuations, and workforce planning.

As a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA), she is committed to advancing the actuarial profession. Currently serving in two roles: Principal Examiner for the Health and Care Fellowship Examinations (F201) and a member of the ASSA Council.

Natascha Plani qualified as a physiotherapist from the University of Pretoria in 1994. She worked at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital after qualifying, in the medical and surgical units, before entering into private practice in Alberton, Gauteng in 1995.

Natascha has a special interest in critical care and traumatology, and completed her Master’s degree in Physiotherapy in the field of cardiorespiratory and traumatology physiotherapy in 2010, from the University of Witwatersrand.

She is a member of the Trauma Society of South Africa, as well as the Critical Care Society of South Africa, and was for many years a member of the Cardiorespiratory Rehabilitation Group of the South African Society of Physiotherapy, including being their Chair and treasurer. She also represented South Africa on the World Confederation of Physical Therapists (WCPT) Africa region, as well as serving as an Executive member and treasurer of the International Confederation of Cardiorespiratory Physical Therapists (ICCrPT).

She is a post-graduate lecturer in cardiorespiratory physiotherapy, particularly critical care, has reviewed abstracts and articles for publication and presentation in the cardiorespiratory field and has examined students at under and post-graduate level for the University of the Witwatersrand.

She has been a speaker at multiple local and international congresses and symposiums, authored a number of papers and also wrote a chapter for the Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy in Trauma textbook, of which the second edition has recently been released.

Research interests include early mobilisation in the critically ill, proning, trauma follow-up clinics and minimum clinical standards for physiotherapists working in intensive care,as well as muscle wasting mechanisms in critical illness.

Professor Richards is Emeritus Professor of Critical Care and Pulmonology at the University of the Witwatersrand.

He qualified in medicine in 1978, specialised in internal Medicine in 1985 and subsequently qualified as a pulmonologist and intensivist. He attained his PhD in Medicine in 1992 and was elected to the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2020. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the SA Thoracic Society in 2022.

He was awarded the Mandela Medal in Gold by the president for distinguished service related to the passing of Nelson Mandela in 2014. He has been awarded best research paper and best publication on several occasions at congresses of the SA Thoracic Society and the SA Critical Care Society of Southern Africa, most recently in 2023.

He has authored 11 book chapters and 243 peer reviewed, indexed scientific papers and his research has been cited 6207 times. His “h index” is 43.

Andrew Boulle is a South African public health physician with the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness in South Africa, and Professor of Public Health Medicine at the University of Cape Town. His teaching and research have been predominantly focused on infectious disease epidemiology and local and collaborative HIV/TB cohort studies, and his service work on systems development for priority health conditions.

He has helped establish data centres for both collaborative cohort studies and for routine health information (the Western Cape Provincial Health Data Centre and Health Information Exchange), a Pregnancy Exposure and Birth Defects Surveillance registry, and more recently a Health and Demographic Surveillance Site.

He is passionate about the harmonisation and consolidation of routine health data to improve health services, and on leveraging population based research initiatives to catalyze the improvement of health information systems.

Professor Anri Human is a qualified physiotherapist with over two decades of clinical and academic experience. She completed her PhD at the University of Cape Town in 2021, focusing on “The effect of inspiratory muscle training on clinical outcomes and health-related quality of life in children with neuromuscular disease and respiratory muscle weakness.” Currently, Anri holds the position of Associate Professor and Paediatrics lecturer in the Department of Physiotherapy at the University of Pretoria. She is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, research supervision, and curriculum development. Her research interests include paediatric neuromuscular disorders, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, and respiratory care in vulnerable populations.

Anri has presented at numerous national and international congresses, including the World Muscle Society Congress, TREAT-NMD, International Congress of Neuromuscular Diseases, and World Physiotherapy Congress. She has published in numerous local and international peer-reviewed journals and reviews for several physiotherapy and medical journals. She is an active member of various national and international committees. Anri also chairs the Research Committee of the South African Society of Physiotherapy.

Professor Barry Jacobson is a Clinical Haematologist at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, Johannesburg. He qualified from the University of Pretoria and obtained his specialist degrees in both Clinical Haematology and Surgery, from Glasgow, Scotland and from Wits University.  He is a member of the Departments of Molecular Medicine and Haematology NHLS, and the University of the Witwatersrand, as well as the Department of Internal Medicine and Surgery. He holds the position of adjunct Professor.

Professor Jacobson is a founding member and the President of theSouthern African Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (SASTH), as well as one of the executive Vice Presidents of the International Union of Angiology.

His responsibilities include under and post- graduate student training, treatment and diagnosis of patients and international research in the field of thrombosis. He has published widely and has more than 3000 citations.

Brian Allwood is a Professor in the Division of Pulmonology at the Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital. He received his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, and completed his training as a specialist physician and pulmonologist at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He has also attained a master’s degree in public health (Clinical Research), and completed a PhD evaluating the link between tuberculosis and subsequent development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

He initiated the multi-disciplinary interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension service at Tygerberg Hospital and was awarded the Discovery Foundation Fellowship to Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard (Boston, USA) in 2017, where he obtained clinical training in pulmonary vascular diseases.

Apart from running the clinical interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension services, his current research interests include post-TB lung disease (PTLD), and particularly, the pulmonary vascular effects after tuberculosis. He chaired the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd International Post-Tuberculosis in Stellenbosch (2019 & 2023, 2025).

He remains committed to teaching and training in pulmonology, and in
particular the training of pulmonologists for the African context, as well as addressing
respiratory problems relevant to Africa and South Africa.

Claudia Gray is a paediatrician with sub-specialist accreditation in allergology and paediatric pharmacology. She undertook her medical degree at the University of Cape Town, specialised in London, and subsequently returned to South African soil to undertake a PhD and work in the field of allergology.

Claudia is a part-time consultant at the Allergy and Asthma clinic at Red Cross Children’s Hospital, and an Associate Professor in Paediatrics at the University of Cape Town. Her research interests are in allergy pharmacology, and in food allergies in eczema patients, on which she based her PhD. She also works in a cutting-edge private allergy centre in Cape Town. On the side she is currently busy with a healthcare management MBA.

Claudia thoroughly enjoys teaching and presents regularly at local and international conferences. She has over 100 publications in local as well as international high-impact international journals. She is on the editorial team of the journal Current Allergy and Clinical Immunology and co-editor/co-author of the 2017 and 2025 South African Allergy Handbooks and has written the book Food Allergies in a Nutshell. She is also the author of several children’s books, having a passion for educating/enlightening the young.

Claudia sits on several international allergy committees, including the EAACI food allergy guidelines committee and the European Forum for Research and Education in Allergy and Airway Diseases (EUFOREA) expert committee.

Professor Neumann, a geologist and palynologist at North-West University, is involved in the SAPNET (South African Pollenmonitoring Network) since 2019. He leads research on airborne pollen and fungal spores, linking them to allergic responses, weather and land cover patterns. His team conducts spore trapping and skin prick allergy testing in urban centres, including Potchefstroom and Vanderbijlpark. Through interdisciplinary studies, Neumann contributes to public health by mapping aeroallergen trends in the form of pollen calendars and allergy risk maps and raising awareness of environmental triggers of allergic diseases.

Professor Greg Calligaro is a senior specialist in the Division of Pulmonology at Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH), and a research co-ordinator at the Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity of the University of Cape Town Lung Institute. He completed a Fellowship in thoracic transplantation at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney in 2016, has helped to establish an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) service at GSH, and is the medical lead of the heart and lung transplant service.  He is currently serving as a member of Heart and Lung Committee of The Transplantation Society. His clinical work focuses on interstitial lung diseases, lung transplantation, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary vascular disease. 

Professor Heather Zar, a global expert in childhood respiratory diseases, has built a strong clinical translational research program focused on key childhood illnesses in Africa and globally, including pneumonia, RSV and developmental origins of health. A national A-1 rated scientist, she has >650 publications and has participated in several trials of new RSV preventive interventions for infants. She is past-President of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, of the Pan African Thoracic Society, of the SA  Thoracic Society and an advisor to WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and the Gates Foundation. She’s received the World Lung Health award, the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Laureate for Africa and Arabia, the European Respiratory Society Lifetime Achievement Award, the SA-MRC Platinum medal for contributions over a lifetime and the Barney Graham award for contributions on RSV. She is passionate about reducing global health inequities and ensuring access to excellent care for all children.

Professor Heleen van Aswegen is a Personal Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the Witwatersrand. She worked as a clinical physiotherapist for 10 years in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Heleen joined the Wits Physiotherapy department in 2002 where she teaches cardiopulmonary physiotherapy at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and co-ordinates the research and postgraduate studies programme for the department. Heleen’s research interest are in the fields of critical care and trauma.

Professor van Aswegen has more than 70 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and been an invited speaker at several national and international critical care, trauma and physiotherapy congresses, and collaborates in research with colleagues from Sweden, Australia and the United Kingdom. Heleen is editor of the book ‘Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy in Trauma: An Evidence-based Approach’ (2nd edition) published by World Scientific in 2024. Her podcast series Physiotherapy Trauma Talks launched in January 2025.

Professor Jemma Finch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa). She holds a PhD from the University of York. A palaeoecologist by training, she uses plant and animal remains preserved in sediments to understand past climate and environmental change. She is the recipient of the 2021 UKZN Vice Chancellor’s Research Award.

Jemma also teaches undergraduate biogeography and environmental change, and has special interests in fieldwork-based training, and in developing scientific writing skills.

Professor Lekan Ayo-Yusuf previously served as Hospital Superintendent in the Limpopo Province, as the Dean and Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, and is currently the Head of the School of Health Systems and Public Health at the University of Pretoria.

After receiving a PhD in health promotion and health education from Maastricht University (The Netherlands), he went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship training in public health practice at the Harvard School of Public Health. His main research focus is on behavioural epidemiology and related policy translation for non-communicable diseases (NCD) prevention. Over the past 20 years, he has been an investigator and/or co-investigator on national and international research, including clinical trials and regional capacity-building projects related to tobacco use prevention, treatment/cessation and policy advocacy as it relates to commercial determinants of health.

Professor Ayo-Yusuf is B1 NRF-rated scientist with 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications. He serves as a member of the editorial board on several international journals and as a member of several national and international scientific committees/boards including current role as the Chair of the Standing committee on Health of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), a member of the WHO Tobacco Regulation Scientific Group and Chair of Gauteng Provincial Health Research Committee.

Marco Zampoli completed his paediatric pulmonology training in South Africa where he currently holds the position of Associate Professor in Paediatrics at the University of Cape Town.

Professor Zampoli is head of the paediatric cystic fibrosis (CF) clinic at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. He completed his PhD on various aspects of CF epidemiology in South Africa and Africa. His other research and clinical interests include primary ciliary dyskinesia, pleural effusions, sleep medicine and long -term home ventilation.

Theresa Marié Rossouw is a Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) cum laude from Stellenbosch University. She then completed two Masters’ degrees, both cum laude (Master’s in Philosophy – Biomedical Ethics – Stellenbosch University, and Master’s in Public Health – Epidemiology and Biostatistics – UP) and two doctoral degrees (PhD Philosophy, Stellenbosch University, and PhD Immunology, UP). She worked as the Clinical Head of the HIV clinic at Pretoria Academic Hospital from 2005, HIV consultant for Tshwane district from 2014, and then transitioned into research as Head of the Immunopathology Laboratory in the Department of Immunology at UP in 2016.

Professor Rossouw is specifically interested in HIV-associated drug resistance and systemic immune activation as well as the impact of COVID-19 on people with immunodeficiency. A member of the World Health Organization’s Research and Innovation Working Group, HIVResNet, as well as various scientific committees, and is the current President of the South African Immunology Society.

Professor Rossouw also  has a keen interest in ethics, chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria and the immediate past chairperson of the REC of the Human Sciences Research Council. She is an NRF-rated scientist and was awarded a silver medal by the South African Medical Research Council in 2023.  

Professor Masekela is a distinguished lung health researcher with over 17 years of experience, currently serving as a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Professor (2022–2027). Her research focuses on paediatric asthma and lung physiological testing, making significant contributions to paediatric respiratory medicine and earning her international recognition.

Masekela holds several prominent leadership roles in global lung health. She is the Co-Chair of the Global Asthma Network and President of the Pan African Thoracic Society. Additionally, she serves as Co-Chair of the Federation of Respiratory Societies (FIRS) Lung Health Task Force Steering Committee. Her influence extends through memberships in leading organizations such as the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Scientific Committee, European Respiratory Society (ERS) Global Lung Initiative (GLI) Network Clinical Research Collaboration Committee, ERS Long Range Planning Committee for the Pediatrics Assembly, and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Ethics and Conflict of Interest Committee.

Nationally, Masekela is the President of the South African Thoracic Society, where she plays a crucial role in shaping respiratory healthcare policies and practices. A prolific researcher, Masekela has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and contributed to eight book chapters on paediatric respiratory diseases. Beyond her research, Masekela is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of researchers. She has supervised and graduated PhD and Master’s students, fostering research capacity in Africa. She co-directs the PATS-Methods in Epidemiological, Operational, and Clinical Research (MECOR) program, supported by the American Thoracic Society, and serves as a faculty member of the Virtual ATS International Pediatric Pulmonology Research Academy (VIPPRA) program. She also mentors and reviews for the USAID-funded SMART4TB Early-Stage Investigator program.

Through her groundbreaking research, leadership, and mentorship, Professor Masekela continues to shape the future of paediatric respiratory health, both in Africa and globally.

Professor Matthias (Matt) Haus is a Medical Scientist, a specialist Allergologist and an Academic at the University of Pretoria Medical Faculty. He is a well-known businessman and Philanthropist, until recently the Lead Independent Non-Executive Director on the Holding Company Board of the Bidvest-controlled Public Company, Adcock Ingram.  He has been Chairman of numerous other Companies and organization’s including the Professional Provident Society Financial Services Board and the Allergy Society of South Africa.

He has directed Clinical Pharmaceutical Research for the global AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson companies for 35 years as Executive Vice President and has worked around the world, also living in Shanghai, China for a period. He has lectured and travelled extensively on all continents, presenting on Medical, Philosophical and Business-related topics, resulting in numerous significant Awards and Distinctions. He has a particular interest in the management of patients living with Cancer and is the founder of the Moments in Time Oncology Project.

His Awards include an Honorary Fellowship of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa in 2020, the South African Academy of Arts and Sciences Award for 2003, the South African Financial Mail Award for Science and Technology in 1989 and the University of the Witwatersrand Award for Oncology in 2005.

He is a well-known after-dinner speaker and television presenter and has been a musician and composer since the age of three. He enjoys presenting Soire’s and musical concerts from time to time and has appeared with numerous Orchestras, including the National South African Youth Orchestra in 1966 and the East London Symphony Orchestra as a violinist. He made a guest appearance with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Richard Cock as a pianist in 2003.

He has a particular interest in Existential Philosophy and is a student of Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapeutic School of Thinking, on which topic he has published numerous books.

Michelle Wong is the Clinical Head of the Division of Pulmonology and Consultant in General Medicine at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. Her particular interest is in the interstitial lung diseases, but she finds most topics in Pulmonology interesting and enjoys encounters with clinically challenging cases. She has been involved in drawing up guidelines for asthma, COPD and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. She is the Honorary Secretary for the South African Thoracic Society and has convened the Cert Pulm(SA) Phys examination from 2019 to 2022.

Professor Mike Levin is head of the Division of Asthma and Allergy in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Cape Town.  He serves on the executive committee of the Allergy Society of South Africa and is the CEO of the Allergy Foundation of South Africa (www.allergyfoundation.co.za) where you can find huge amount of information for doctors and patients. 

He teaches medical students, medical professionals and specialists in allergy and presents at national and international allergy congresses.  He has published >150 peer reviewed scientific articles, 5 chapters in medical books and edited a textbook of paediatrics and the ALLSA textbook of allergy.  He has participated in reviews of local and national guidelines for societies and for official government departments, including asthma guidelines for the Western Cape, submissions to the EML/STG for changes, and changes to the medicines formulary.

Professor  Levin has a special interest in epidemiology of allergy in Africa, severe allergies and anaphylaxis, as well as patient support and education.  Current research includes rural and urban differences in prevalence of food allergy and mechanisms of meat-induced anaphylaxis.

Riaz Seedat is Professor and Head of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of the Free State and Universitas Academic Hospital. His areas of interest include paediatric otorhinolaryngology, and infectious diseases and allergy in ENT, with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and allergic rhinitis being specific areas of research.

He has an MMed in Otorhinolaryngology from the University of the Free State and is a Fellow of the College of Otorhinolaryngologists. He serves on the Council of the College of Otorhinolaryngologists and was previously Secretary of the College of Otorhinolaryngologists and on the Senate of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa.

Professor Ronel Roos is a Physiotherapist and Associate Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She teaches and serves as the undergraduate programme co-ordinator and works and researches cardiopulmonary and intensive care physiotherapy. Her research interest are health promotion and rehabilitation of individuals with cardiopulmonary dysfunction to highlight quality of life and disability. The National Research Foundation of South Africa recognised her research contributions as an established researcher, and she received a C2 rating in 2023. She is dedicated to advancing the community of practice related to cardiopulmonary and intensive care physiotherapy in South Africa. She was awarded the Faculty of Health Sciences Phillip V Tobias Distinguished Teacher’s Award for Clinical Sciences in 2018 and an Honorary Life Membership of the Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy Rehabilitation Group of the South African Society of Physiotherapy in 2023 for her contributions to advancing evidence-based clinical practice.

Sibusiso Yokwana is a molecular ecologist with a background in genetics, biodiversity monitoring, and environmental DNA (eDNA) research. He holds an MSc in Zoology (Population Genetics), where he investigated the genetic stock structure of Pachymetopon aeneum using microsatellite markers. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Cape Town, focusing on the DNA metabarcoding of airborne fungal spores and pollen across South African biomes.

His work spans across freshwater, marine, and airborne environmental samples, reflecting his adaptability and interdisciplinary focus. He is part of the SA-CARES project, contributing to the implementation of molecular tools for aeroallergen monitoring. His current research integrates aeroallergen bioinformatics and public health relevance. He is passionate about making biodiversity data more accessible and useful for clinicians, researchers and policymakers.