Professor Valerie Mizrahi

Professor Valerie Mizrahi’s research focuses on the physiological and metabolic aspects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis relevant to drug discovery, resistance and efficacy as well as mycobacterial persistence. She completed her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Cape Town and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Pennsylvania State University. She worked as a Chief Research Officer at the CSIR; for SmithKline and French Pharmaceuticals in the USA; and as Research Professor at WITS. She was a co-director of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research (CBTBR) at WITS. She is currently the Professorial Director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at UCT; Director of the Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit; and co-Director and Head of the UCT CBTBR node. Prof Mizrahi has published 162 papers in top international journals. She has (co)-supervised 27 postdocs, 24 PhD candidates and 10 Master’s students, and mentored or sponsored many early-career researchers. Her major awards include the 2000 UNESCO-L’Oréal For Women in Science prize, the 2013 Mérieux Prize; 2017 SAMRC Platinum Award and 2018 Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship, among others.