Qualification: D.Phil (Oxford)
Present position: Professor in Biochemistry
Research areas: His current research programs involve the characterisation of a novel candidate tumour suppressor gene, DWNN, in animals and plants, from a variety of functional aspects including the role of this gene in human cancers; the determination of the structure of the novel DWNN domain together with Dr David Pugh; the identification of other genes involved in cell death; the characterisation of compounds involved in the induction of apoptosis, in particular those isolated from plants used in African Traditional Medicine; and use of molecular marker technologies and genomics in apple breeding research.
During the past five years he has been responsible for the funding of major equipment for the Biotechnology Program at UWC, and the training of many postgraduate students, the appointment of a number of high level academic staff appointments and the rapid development of a strong research culture in Biotechnology at UWC. A significant number of the postgraduate students have gained major scholarships for PhD study in the UK (Commonwealth, Rhodes Trust, Cambridge Commonwealth) at Oxford, Cambridge, London, Durham and Leeds Universities; while many others have won scholarships for postgraduate and postdoctoral study at UWC.
He is the Director of the Apoptosis Consortium, funded by the Cancer Association of South Africa, the Project Leader for the Royal Society/NRF SET Linkage Program in Biotechnology, and founding member of the Marker Assisted Breeding Group for apple breeding.