Professor Yahya Choonara is an internationally recognised pharmaceutical scientist and Director of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP), which he co-founded to develop safer, smarter medicines. As a pharmacist and NRF SARChI Chair, he leads research integrating pharmaceutical product design, nanomedicine, and translational science to address unmet needs in infectious diseases, cancer, neurotherapeutics, and lifestyle-related illnesses. Prof Choonara’s research has produced first-inthe- world technologies that enable precise drug and bioactive delivery, reduce side effects, and improve patient usability.

He holds Africa’s largest pharmaceutical patent portfolio, comprising 51 patents, 38 granted internationally. He has published 453 research articles and supervised and mentored 94 Master’s students, 69 PhD students, and 26 postdoctoral fellows and early-career researchers. His contributions have earned him the FIP Distinguished Pharmaceutical Science Award, the Olusegun Obasanjo Prize, and NSTF and SAMRC Gold Awards. Through WADDP, he strengthens Africa’s capacity to develop medicines and trains future pharmaceutical scientists.