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.