Dr. Yolande Harley is currently the Director of Research of the University of Cape Town's (UCT's) Faculty of Health Sciences. Her role encompasses strategic advancement of Health Sciences research, development of partnerships, oversight and planning of finances, and leadership of the Faculty Research Office.

Through the latter, she oversees the portfolios of Research Intelligence (reporting, M&E, internal funding, and visibility), Research Diligence (ethics, biosafety, regulatory and compliance) and Research Development (fund sourcing and sustainability). She serves on local and international research committees and has presented nationally and internationally on funding and research capacity development, with emphasis on the enhancement of research in Africa.

Before joining UCT she was Deputy Director of Research for Action Medical Research, a health research funder in the UK, and prior to that a Medical Writer at Envision Pharma (also UK). She obtained her PhD in Exercise Physiology from UCT, with a fellowship at the University of California Berkeley (USA). Since 2005 her work has centred on strategic research enablement, governance and dissemination, and has spanned the NGO sector, industry and academia.