LH du Plessis

Biography

I am a Professor in Pharmaceutics who specializes in toxicology, cell biology and novel drug delivery systems. I completed my undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus. I obtained a Bachelors degree in Health Sciences with Physiology, Biochemistry and Zoology as main subjects in 2002. I completed a BSc Honours (Cum Laude) in Physiology in 2003. In 2003 I completed the training in handling of laboratory animals given by the animal centre at that stage. In 2004 I enrolled for a Master of Science degree in membrane and electrophysiology, which I obtained in 2005 (Cum Laude). The primary focus of my MSc was the isolation and characterization of components in Southern African scorpion venom responsible for an agonistic effect on calcium channels in heart muscle of rats. With these results I have won the best Poster Presentation at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Physiological Society of Southern Africa (PSSA) in 2003. Two review articles were published in relevant International Journals (2007, 2008). A chapter in a book entitled, Different Methods of Collecting Scorpion Venom, In Venoms: Sources, Toxicity and Therapeutic uses, was also published (2010). I continued my research in cell biology and toxicology and obtained a PhD degree in 2007 in Biochemistry under Prof Harry (HF) Kotzé with a PhD thesis entitled: The effect of different ozone concentrations on white blood cell energy homeostasis. This study included research on baboons housed in the animal facility as well as human studies. Two manuscripts were published in a peer-reviewed, international journal in 2007 and 2008.
Due to my excellent track record as post graduate student the School of Pharmacy offered me a postdoctoral fellowship in the Pharmaceutics department under the mentorship of Prof. Awie (AF) Kotzé in November 2006. This position entailed research in the Innovation Fund project T60042: Optimisation of drug delivery for tuberculosis, malaria and paediatric AIDS. I was responsible for 1) setting up and managing a fully functional malaria in vitro screening laboratory, 2) the development and validation of three new in vitro assays for anti-malarial drug screening, 3) training postgraduate students and 4) managing the publication and conference outputs of the research group. During this period I was extensively trained in Pharmaceutics, drug delivery systems and specialized techniques including flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. The training in Pharmaceutics formed my current research interest and focus. The technical ability obtained allowed me to form several academic and research collaborations with other departments at the North-West University and with other academic institutions in South Africa. Three publications in peer reviewed international journals resulted from these collaborations (2008, 2010, 2011). In 2008 I was appointed as a senior subject specialist in the Unit for Drug Research and Development. The experienced I have obtained allowed me to actively join the Drug Delivery program within this unit as a permanent staff member. In 2009 I was appointed as Senior Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy, subject group Pharmaceutics. I was appointed in this position based on my cellular background to teach biotechnological and innovative dosage forms to fourth year Pharmacy students. In summary, 2002 – 2009 can be considered as an important shaping phase with training in research methodology and specialized techniques, forming a knowledge base in Pharmaceutics and incorporating cellular biology and toxicology in the Pharmaceutical research, capacity building and establishing a research network.
My current Research interests, activities and focus: My main interest is the 1) development, evaluation and optimization of lipid based and polymeric based drug delivery systems with a particular focus on the delivery of peptide and protein drugs by other routes than the subcutaneous delivery route and 2) employing these drug delivery principles in the field of anti-malarial compounds as well as antibacterial agents.
I have held various research grants as principle investigator and have been a collaborator on two other. I have been actively involved in teaching in Pharmaceutics and lecture for the fourth and second year B.Pharm students.