Professor Resia Pretorius

Professor Resia Pretorius is a professor of physiology at Stellenbosch

University’s department of physiological sciences. She has a PhD in biological sciences from the University of Pretoria

(UP).

Pretorius is known for her use of a proactive strategic research agenda, primarily aimed at reducing the global burden of morbidity and mortality due to various inflammatory haematological and pathological clotting complications. Her main research objective and scientific achievement has been to create a vital mind shift in the understanding of inflammation by developing new approaches to studying the role of coagulation parameters in inflammatory diseases. She has developed rapid diagnostic methods for these purposes, with innovative ultrastructure and viscoelastic techniques that include confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and thromboelastography.

Her novel diagnostic methodology with these instruments has led to the discovery of the role of a blood microbiome in inflammatory conditions, and the crucial association of pathological erythrocytes with bacteria. Recently, her research led to the discovery of the role of lipopolysaccharide, a membrane component from gram-negative bacteria, which is a potent inflammagen and plays a crucial role in the development of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and the pathological coagulation system in these conditions. This groundbreaking discovery has led to numerous publications in high impact factor journals and several press releases in publications such as Time magazine and the New Scientist.

Pretorius is a National Research Foundation-rated (NRF) researcher with an h-index of 31. She is the author of over 240 peer-reviewed publications, including papers in the Lancet, Blood Reviews and several Nature publications. She is the author of eight book chapters and has presented numerous peer-reviewed conference papers and invited talks. She has successfully supervised 40 MSc and PhD students, including many young students from previously disadvantaged communities, and currently supervises nine PhD students and one MSc student.

She is on the editorial boards of seven journals and is currently the associate editor of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Pretorius has been a regular reviewer for nearly 80 ISI journals and was the winner of the prestigious African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award in 2011 in the Women Scientist: Basic Science and Technology category.