Dr Mubeen Goolam

Dr Mohammed Goolam’s work is focused on the field of neuroscience. He established the Stem Cell Modelling Lab at the University of Cape Town and seeks to establish himself as a leader in neural organoid modelling with a view to understand and treat neurological disorders such as epilepsy, tuberculous meningitis, and autism.

Dr Goolam obtained his undergraduate degree in genetics and microbiology, and Honours and Master’s degrees in cell biology at UCT and completed his PhD in physiology, development and neuroscience at the University of Cambridge in the UK.

Currently a senior lecturer at UCT, he has worked as a research assistant, tutor, and postdoctoral research associate. He has held fellowships at institutions such as the University of Oxford and for the African Research Excellence Fund. He also chairs UCT’s Department of Human Biology Postgraduate Education Committee.

He has authored/co-authored 17 articles in journals such as Cell, Nature Methods and Nature Communications, and serves on the editorial board of Scientific Reports. He has been recognised as an emerging African researcher, garnering a number of accolades which include being a finalist for the NSTF-South32 TW Kambule Award: Emerging Researcher and being listed as one of the Mail and Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans.