YC

Yahya E. Choonara

Also known as: Y.E. Choonara, Yahya Essop Choonara

South African Medical Research Council, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, University of Oxford, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)

Research areas: Materials Science · Biomaterials · Advanced Drug Delivery Systems · Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery · Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications

ORCID iD 0000-0002-3889-1529
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About

Professor Yahya Choonara is internationally recognized as an outstanding global pharmaceutical scientist working at the forefront of producing advanced life-saving 21st century medicines that have an impact on global health in infectious, hereditary and lifestyle diseases.

A Pharmacist by profession, he co-founded the University of Witwatersrand’s Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) Research Unit, a flagship unit in South Africa and Africa’s largest in its domain. Based in an LMIC, he contributes enormously to designing novel targeted drug (and/or bioactive) delivery systems, nanomedicine, functional biomaterials and regenerative medicines.

He is a Personal Professor of Pharmaceutical Science in Wits University’s Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology and is a South African Tier 1 DSI-NRF Chair in ‘Prototyping 21st Century Therapeutics in Advanced Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine’.

As an African scientist, he has the largest pharmaceutical patent portfolio (51 in total) aimed at providing patient-centric treatments for infectious diseases, cancers, and neurotherapies for special needs populations. Among his inventions is a WaferMat (the world’s fastest dissolving matrix), a VagiTab, a suite of Nanomedicines and BioInspired NeuroTherapeutics.

He is a Fellow of the Controlled Release Society (CRS) (USA), African Academy of Science (AAS), The World Academy of Science (TWAS), AIM Advisory of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), Leadership of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Nanotech Community and the Academy of Science of SA (ASSAf).

He features in Stanford University’s Top 2% of scientists globally. As a prolific scholar he published >452 research articles in ISI-accredited journals (>20k citations; H-index=70), 73 book chapters, edited 2 books, made >298 scientific presentations, many as an invited expert e.g. KY’22: US-Africa Frontiers: ’20 UNECA Nanotech Research and Innovation Forum (Nanomedicine for Infectious Diseases); DNK‘20: Med-Cannabis (Botanical Therapeutics); JPN‘17: Nobel Laureates Future Leaders STS Forum (Neuro-Implants); IND‘17: BRICS Scientist Conclave (Pseudo-Skin Wound Tech); MUS‘16: Asian Polymer Association (Cancer Targeting); USA ‘10: Controlled Release Society (3D-Bioprinted Scaffolds). He collaborates in >12 countries and reviews for >71 leading journals and funders.

He is passionate about developing the next generation of Pharmaceutical Scientists and has graduated >133 postgraduates and mentored >22 postdocs from 11 countries. He is a Founding Member of the SA Young Academy of Science (SAYAS). The impact of his leadership resulted in many students receiving prestigious awards, e.g. Wits Most Prestigious PhD Degree (5 times), Global Young Academy (GYA) (3 times), M&G Top 200 Young South Africans and the Novartis Next Generation Scientists Program (Basel, AG) (4 times).

He chairs national and international scientific committees with >42 invited plenary/keynote addresses. He currently chairs the Mobilization Committee of the WHO’s African Pharma Forum (APF)-FIP’s initiative to create the Association of Pharmacy Schools in Africa, set on the Exco of the SA Association of Pharmacists in Industry and Pharmaceutical Society of SA (APSSA), nominated to the FIP’s Nanjing Statements on Pharmacy and Pharma Sciences Education Policy Committee and contributor to FIP’s Global Academic Leaders Forum.

He also serves on many panels/working groups, e.g. Pharma-Healthcare for Africa-Asia Partnership (Harvard’s Centre for African Studies), BRICS Business Council Manufacturing Group, SA Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) Nanocode and Nanotechnology for Health, 2010 BIO-Chicago treatise by US Presidents on foreign policy impacting the pharma industry in LMICs. As part of the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) Board, he provided technical oversight and regulatory strategy and joined global voices advocating to build the pharma industry workforce and research capacity in LMICs for sustainable African Pharma/BioTech sectors. He co-authored two FIP-UNESCO UniTWIN Reports on ‘A Needs-Based Pharma Education in Africa’ and ‘Addressing Equitable, Inclusive and Quality Pharma Education’.

He is the first SA Pharmacist to be awarded the DSI (SA) Top IP Creator Award, one of the country’s highest awards for distinguished contributions to innovation and the FIP Distinguished Pharmaceutical Science Award 2022. He also received an AU-TWAS 2015 Award for pharma innovation in Africa, National Science and Technology Foundation 2012 Award for his seminal work in Nanomedicine, SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) 2019 and 2025 Award for advancing therapeutics, APSSA Best Publication in Pharmaceutics Award (6 times), Wits Faculty of Health Sciences Research Excellence Award (12 times), Friedel Sellschop Award for decoding pharma formulation optimization and the 2021 VC’s Research Innovation Award, the highest award at Wits for innovation.

Employment

  • South African Medical Research Council Co-Director
    2026 - Present
  • University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South African DSI-NRF Research Chair: Prototyping 21st Century Therapeutics in Advanced Drug Delivery, Nanomedicine, Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine
    2020 - Present
  • University of the Witwatersrand Director and Principal Researcher: Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit
    2020 - Present
  • University of the Witwatersrand Personal Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
    2017 - Present
  • University of the Witwatersrand Chair and Head: Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology
    2017 - 2026
  • University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics
    2013 - 2016
  • University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Director: African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation CoE in Nanomedicine and Advanced Drug Delivery Technologies
    2010 - Present
  • University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Senior Lecturer of Pharmaceutics
    2008 - 2012
  • University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Lecturer of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
    2006 - 2007

Education

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications

Publications are unavailable.