Professor Yahya Choonara has made history as the first pharmacist in South Africa to receive an A-rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF).
The prestigious rating places him among just 134 A-rated researchers out of approximately 18,000 researchers nationally, which is fewer than 1% of South Africa’s research community.
Prof Choonara, who is the Director of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP), has developed first-in-the-world drug-delivery technologies that aim to carry medicines more precisely to where they are needed in the body, including treatments for cancer, infectious diseases and neurotrauma.
His achievements include one of South Africa’s largest pharmaceutical patient portfolios, 51 pharmaceutical patents (38 granted internationally), and more than 427 scientific publications and over 17,300 citations.
The A-rating recognises researchers considered by international peers to be leaders in their fields. Prof Choonara’s achievement is not only a personal milestone, but a proud moment for South African science and pharmaceutical innovation.
