Division of Clinical Pharmacology

Staff

Eric Decloedt
Prof Eric H Decloedt
Head of Division / Clinical Pharmacologist
021 938 9331
021 938 9860
ericdecloedt@sun.ac.za

Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory

Ms Nkhahliseng Makashane
Assistant director
021 938 9333 / 6168
nmakashane@sun.ac.za

Mrs Victoria Mathane - Van der Heever
Medical Technologist
021 938 6168
victoriamathane@sun.ac.za

Alma van der Merwe

Mrs Alma van der Merwe
Medical Technologist / QC Manager
021 938 6168
awm@sun.ac.za

Dr Mohammed Alghamdi
Clinical Pharmacology Registrar
021 938 9335
021 938 9860
25798286@sun.ac.za

Dr Veshni Pillay-Fuentes Lorente
Clinical Pharmacologist
021 938 9340
021 938 9860
14847795@sun.ac.za

Dr Roland van Rensburg
Clinical Pharmacologist
021 938 9340
021 938 9860
22428585@sun.ac.za

Medicine Research Laboratories

Zebrafish Research Unit

Prof Carine Smith

Professor / Head: Medicine Research Laboratories
csmith@sun.ac.za

Research focus: Chronic inflammatory conditions; neuroscience

Specific expertise: Disease modelling in rodents and zebrafish

Prof Carine Smith has a background in Physiological Sciences and obtained her PhD (Physiological Sciences) from Stellenbosch University in 2004. She holds a NRF C2 rating and has published >70 peer-reviewed papers. She has delivered a number of keynote and plenary addresses at international conferences in the US and Europe. Her research niche is identification of therapeutic targets to treat maladaptation of regulatory systems (nervous, endocrine, inflammatory immune and gut microbiome), by disease modelling in rodent and zebrafish models. She currently serves as editorial member for Frontiers in Pharmacology and as section editor for Inflammopharmacology - both Q1 journals - and serve as specialist advisor to several significant role players in the preventative medicine pharmaceutical industry. She joined the division as founding director of the Zebrafish research unit and head of the Medicine Research Laboratories in 2021.

Research Analytical Pharmacology Laboratory

Dr Tracy Kellermann

Senior Lecturer

tkellermann@sun.ac.za

Research focus: Pharmacokinetics, tuberculosis, toxicology

Specific expertise: Analytical pharmacology techniques

Dr Tracy Kellermann obtained a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry from Stellenbosch University, an MSc in Pharmacology from WITS and a PhD in Pharmacology from UCT. She completed her MSc part-time while working for a biotechnology company involved in developing novel tuberculosis diagnostic tests. She worked at the Division of Pharmacology at UCT as a Principal Scientist in the PK Unit before being appointed at Stellenbosch University from February 2019 as Senior Lecturer with overall responsibility for the Analytical Pharmacology Laboratories, and course convenor of the BSc Honours in Pharmacology. Her research focus areas include toxicology and she is actively involved in various clinical trials involving PK studies within and outside of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science at Stellenbosch University.

Tissue Culture laboratory

Dr Mari van de Vyver

Senior Researcher
021 938 9257

vandevyverm@sun.ac.za

Research focus: Regenerative medicine in diabetes

Specific expertise: Advanced tissue culture; stem cell research

Mari van de Vyver is a Senior Researcher in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology. She completed her PhD degree in Physiological Sciences in 2013 at Stellenbosch University. Thereafter she completed a 3-year postdoctoral research fellowship within the Department of Medicine and established a new research niche in 2016. She is an established researcher with expertise in physiology, endocrinology, stem cells and regenerative medicine. She has also served in numerous leadership positions which include being part of the Executive committee of the Society of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes in South Africa (SEMDSA) from 2016-2020. She is rated by the National Research Foundation as a Young researcher (Y-rating).

Assoc Prof William Ferris

Associate Professor
021 938 9448

wferris@sun.ac.za
Research focus: Bone marrow adiposity
Specific expertise: Molecular biology

William Ferris is a cell biologist and biochemist in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Stellenbosch University. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in biochemistry and chemistry from the University of East Anglia, UK in 1987 and then worked as a research Scientist in Haematology in the South African Institute for Medical Research, Johannesburg before completing his PhD in protein engineering at Southampton University, UK in 1992. He was subsequently a post-doctoral fellow studying liver fibrosis at Southampton General Hospital and then T-cell signalling at Stellenbosch University, after which he conducted diabetes research, looking at pancreatic islet regeneration at the SA Medical Research Council. In 2003 he moved back to Stellenbosch University and is currently an Associate Professor examining adipocytic differentiation of stem cells in both adipose tissue and bone. He was on the executive committee of the Society for endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes of South African (SEMDSA) for nine years, three as vice-president and is currently on the scientific board of the International Bone Marrow Adiposity Society. He is also a reviewer for 34 accredited international journals and two national journals.