September 4, 2025
This Pharmacy Month, we celebrate the vital role pharmacists play in building healthier futures.
CHRU has one of South Africa’s most dedicated research pharmacies: tackling the world’s most urgent infectious disease health challenges. Our team supports clinical trials that bring new hope to patients in South Africa and beyond.
Behind the scenes, our pharmacists and pharmacist assistants ensure that all clinical trial medicine is handled with precision — from global importation, storage, and cold-chain logistics, to dispensing to clinical trial participants, final destruction if required, and regulatory compliance, all with the highest standards of care and compliance.
What drew you to research pharmacy specifically versus clinical pharmacy?
I chose research pharmacy over clinical pharmacy because research pharmacy is the engine of progress—without research, clinical pharmacy would have no new therapies to optimise. Research pharmacy is about innovation and developing rather than applying knowledge. Without it, there would be no new drugs, combinations, formulations or delivery methods. Its contribution is long-term; it shapes the future of healthcare and creates and validates new treatment options and impacts millions of people globally over decades.
How did you become one of South Africa's leading research pharmacists?
My passion for science and patient care started early, blending a natural curiosity for medicines with a drive to save and improve lives. I worked to establish a research pharmacy not as ‘support’, but as a critical enabler of reliable clinical trials. I have focused for almost three decades in clinical trials, ICH-GCP, SAHPRA compliance and investigational drug management.
I’m known for zero-compromise compliance, even in high-pressure or resource-limited conditions, for over 25 years. And I’ve trained, mentored, and built pharmacy teams capable of handling the most complex study drug trial demands.
What's the most rewarding aspect of training other pharmacists?
Most rewarding is knowing that every pharmacist I’ve trained carries not just knowledge but has the capacity for research excellence. Instead of my expertise serving a few trials, it becomes multiplied across many studies, sites, and future study participants. It’s deeply satisfying to know I’m contributing to a sustainable legacy of research pharmacy excellence, not just short-term project delivery. When I train pharmacists from other countries, the impact goes far beyond a single study or country. By sharing knowledge across borders, I help strengthen not just individual capacity but also the global research network, creating a legacy of excellence that benefits study participants everywhere.
How has the field of research pharmacy evolved during your career?
Over the past 25 years, clinical research has become more global, regulated, and complex,. What began decades ago as basic study drug storage and dispensing, gradually developed into today’s highly specialised discipline of research pharmacy, which underpins current clinical research. Research pharmacy is now a cornerstone of clinical research, ensuring that new treatments are validated and can be trusted worldwide.
What differentiates CHRU's research pharmacy?
Our pharmacy team is the most experienced in South Africa, with most pharmacy staff having worked here over 10 years and some more than 20 years. This exceptional level of long-term expertise means sponsors and investigators work with a pharmacy team that deeply understands clinical trial processes, regulatory compliance, and the operational realities of managing study products. With decades of combined expertise, CHRU’s research pharmacy doesn’t just manage study products—we anticipate challenges, solve problems proactively, and safeguard the scientific and ethical integrity of every trial we work on.
What world-class specifications are you most proud of in the facility?
Our pharmacy has a Sterilgard Baker Class II TypeA2 Biological Safety Cabinet maintained at ISO-class 5, within a state-of-the-art ISO-class 7 aseptic drug preparation facility.
How do you ensure quality control in clinical trial drug preparations?
Quality control is not a single step but an ongoing process. These are key:
Good pharmacy standard operating procedures (SOPs): All processes are strictly followed using clear pharmacy SOPs aligned with ICH-GCP, SAHPRA, and SAPC requirements, as well as protocol-specific instructions. QC checks are done for every step, by a second pharmacy staff member before any study drug leaves the pharmacy.
Experienced oversight: Having senior pharmacists with decades of experience providing supervision, training and proactive risk management.
How do you balance speed and safety in clinical trial dispensing?
We combine efficient, protocol-driven workflows with strict quality safeguards. Our highly experienced team works quickly and confidently, but every step is guided by clear SOPs, protocol-specific instructions and independent double-checks to ensure accuracy and compliance. We are also supported by advanced electronic infrastructure—including dispensing systems, integrated label printers, heavy-duty scanner and printers, etc
What safety protocols are you most passionate about?
All safety protocols are critical; the ones I am most passionate about are those that directly protect participants and safeguard the integrity of the study product.
If you could tell the public one thing about research pharmacy, what would it be?
If there’s one thing I would tell the public about research pharmacy, it’s that we are the invisible guardians of every clinical drug trial. Behind the scenes, research pharmacists ensure that study medicines are stored, prepared, and dispensed with absolute precision and safety—protecting participants and upholding the integrity of the science that leads to tomorrow’s treatments.
Any pharmacy myths you'd like to debunk?
Yes, it’s that research pharmacists simply stick a label on a medicine bottle. In reality, we are continually overseeing and managing everything that is linked to study product, importation, stock levels, expiry dates, tight temperature range control, servicing and calibration of all pharmacy equipment, dispensing, accountability under strict international standards, to ensure every dose is safe, traceable, and completely documented according to local and international requirements.
What's your proudest professional moment?
My proudest professional moment was leading the setup and coordination of the temporary COVID-19 vaccine pharmacy at Milpark Hospital. I was responsible for establishing compliant systems and workflows that met both regulatory and clinical trial standards, ensuring the integrity and safety of each of the 3670 COVID-19 vaccine doses prepared at Milpark. I trained the seconded hospital pharmacists and travelling QC pharmacists in sterile vaccine preparation, fostering confidence and consistency across the team.
Beyond training, I oversaw the logistics of vaccine handling and overall accountability, coordinating distribution to hospitals and supporting mobile vaccine pharmacies into the far corners of South Africa. This work not only strengthened compliance and operational resilience under immense pressure but also played a direct role in protecting frontline healthcare workers and enabling the broader national rollout.