Biography

A/Prof Yolandy Lemmer is Research Group Leader: Human Molecular Diagnostics and Omics, in the Next Generation Health, Division 1, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In addition, she also holds an Extraordinary Associate Professorship at the Preclinical Drug Development Platform, North-West University, and is an Extraordinary Lecturer: Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria. She is also the project leader and PI of the research programs investigating active targeting ligands for anti-TB nanomedicines and point of care TB diagnostic development with multi-national collaborations in the field. She also managed the portfolio for the veterinary group, where the research focus is on recombinant technologies for protein production including vaccines, antigens, antibodies, and peptides to serve diagnostics and vaccine applications. The managerial duties include the management of the projects and team members on a day-to-day basis, the planning and execution of strategic direction and direct industry engagement relating to the focus areas. She also contributes on a technical level to the training of the team in animal handling and animal models as well as immunological assays to confirm the intended outcomes. She completed her PhD in 2011 at the University of Pretoria and has published several papers in reputed journals with patent outputs as well. She serves on advisory panels on a national and international level, as well as being a reviewer for several rated journals. Her current team’s research focus is on diagnostic development and the team also specialises in the field of proteomics. A/Prof. Lemmer has a vast variety of national and international collaborators on projects ranging from the development of novel anti-cancer formulations, development of recombinant monoclonal antibodies, to the production of biological molecules on different biological expression platforms. Her long term research focusses mainly on smart formulations for poverty related diseases with the ultimate aim for better treatment outcomes specifically in the field of Tuberculosis. The improvements involves the development of targeted drug delivery and TB diagnostics. Under her leadership, her group has demonstrated that lipid containing nanoparticles could target TB infected macrophages. Subsequently these unique molecules could also be applied in a TB diagnostic project at the University of Pretoria (UP), a project that she has been involved in for the past 17 years. She is also engaging a start-up company of UP, for the successful technology transfer of the TB MARTI Diagnostic test and the completion of the clinical trials. Given her expertise in the field of pre-clinical animal models, Dr. Lemmer has also been involved in the past two years in the development of therapeutics and vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.