Professor Komala Pillay is the Wernher and Beit Chair and Head of the Division of Anatomical Pathology at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS), Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH) since January 2020. In July 2022 she was appointed as the Head of Department of Pathology at UCT/NHLS comprising eight divisions.

Prof Pillay qualified as a pathologist in 2004 and has specialist qualifications in South Africa (CMSA) and the United Kingdom (RCPath). She was a consultant pathologist at UCT/NHLS since 2005 and practised as the only anatomical pathologist at RCWMCH from 2007-2019 also contributing significantly to research (more than 100 publications) and teaching (undergraduate and postgraduate). She is the Chair of the Anatomical Pathology Expert Committee (APEC) for the NHLS, President of the College of Pathologists of South Africa (CMSA) and sub-Saharan country advisor for Royal College of Pathologists.