I hold a PhD in Biochemistry with experience in the field of pharmaceutical sciences gained through training and research positions held in Zimbabwe, Sweden, The Netherlands and South Africa. My research interests are towards enhancing preclinical drug development capability in Africa by providing more translational preclinical models and by training and mentoring young people. I also have experience as a Study Director for preclinical testing in compliance with OECD Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) guidelines.

After starting my research career in 1993 on the enzymology of inherited metabolic diseases, my focus narrowed after completion of a PhD to mitochondrial disease. After completed a postdoctoral fellowship in 2001 at the Nijmegen Centre for Mitochondrial Disorders in The Netherlands, I established - along with Prof Roan Louw - the Mitochondria Research Laboratory in 2002. The laboratory has developed into a recognized research and diagnostic facility to study mitochondrial function and disease.