Professor Valerie Mizrahi
Valerie Mizrahi is director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at UCT. She also leads the MRC/NHLS/UCT Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit, co-directs the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research, and was a Senior International Research Scholar of the HHMI from 2012-2017. Her research focuses on aspects of the physiology and metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis of relevance to TB drug resistance, mycobacterial persistence and TB drug discovery. Valerie holds an A1 rating from the NRF. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, African Academy of Science and Royal Society of South Africa, an Associate Fellow of TWAS, and Member of the Academy of Science of SA. Her awards include the 2013 Christophe Mérieux Prize from the Mérieux Foundation and Institut de France; Order of the Mapungubwe (Silver) in 2007; 2017 Platinum Medal from the SAMRC, and 2000 Unesco-L’Oréal For Women in Science Award (Africa & Middle East).