Carina Mels is full-time Research Professor and Director of the Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART) at the North-West University (NWU), South Africa. Carina has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers and acted as post-graduate study supervisor to more than 20 Masters and Ph.D students. On two occasions her students received the Vice-Chancellor’s medal for most outstanding master’s degree student in the Faculty of Health Sciences. As of 2022 she holds a C2-rating from the National Research Foundation, indicating that she is an established researcher.