Dr Amita Aggarwal received her graduate medical education and postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. She obtained DM (Clinical Immunology) from this department and later joined on the faculty in 1996 rose to be the Professor and Head of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute, Lucknow. Currently she is the executive director at AIIMS Bibinagar. She was awarded the APLAR fellowship for training in Rheumatology at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia. Later she spent 6 weeks at Centers for disease control, Atlanta learning Lab immunology. She availed DBT sponsored overseas research associateship at Department of Pediatric Rheumatology, Oklahoma Health Science center, USA.

She is a clinician scientist, with major interest in Juvenile arthritis and SLE. Her major work is on innate immune pathways in Juvenile arthritis, and she has setup a multi-institutional lupus cohort in India. She has published nearly 400 papers and has written 2 books and more than 50 book chapters. In addition, she has taught a generation of physicians working in the field of rheumatology. She has been the principal investigator of more than 35 research projects. She serves on multiple international working groups on JIA and SLE.

In recognition of her work, she has been elected fellow of the Indian national academy of Science (INSA), Indian academy of Science, National academy of Science (NASI) as well as National academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS). She has received multiple awards from ICMR, DBT, IRA, API and pediatric rheumatology society. She has also served as the President of Indian Rheumatology Association as well as editor of Indian Journal of Rheumatology. She is on the advisory board of Lancet Rheumatology and Lancet Global health (South Asia)

Professor Edwards is a Consultant Rheumatologist and Co-Director of the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility within the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Professor Edwards is Clinical Director of the Southampton Musculoskeletal Research Unit, a recognised EULAR centre of excellence and is a past Chair of the EULAR Education Committee. He has served on the EULAR Council and is Co-convenor of the EULAR Recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis. He is the current EULAR treasurer.

Dr Lydell left Cape Town and did his internship at the Edendale Hospital in Kwazulu –Natal, then returned to Cape Town for six months of pediatrics at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s hospital. Then followed 24 months of Government service or National Service which was something all South Africans did. During this period, he worked in the rural areas of Kwazulu-Natal and gained experience in OBGYN, Anaesthetics and pediatrics. Dr Lydell spent 6 months in Namibia, again in rural medicine and had exposure to infectious disease and internal medicine.

Following that period, he returned to the big city and worked for 18 months in the teaching hospitals in the city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in Anaesthesia and Cardiac medicine before moving to Cape Town in 1986 and doing fellowships in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

Dr Lydell remained as a community Rheumatologist in Cape Town working at the Vincent Pallotti Hospital in Pinelands, a suburb of Cape Town before relocating to Alberta, Canada in 2007.

His interest in Musculo-Skeletal imaging actually started in Cape Town, early in his career, during a visit to Oxford and Leeds in the United Kingdom. He has been fortunate enough to continue and foster that passion here in Canada and now consider Point Of Care (POC) Ultrasound an essential tool in the evaluation of most inflammatory and non-inflammatory disorders.

Josef Smolen is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. He received his MD degree from the University of Vienna, trained there in Immunology, Medicine, and Rheumatology, and was a research fellow at the Arthritis Institute at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. 1989-2017 he was Chairman of the 2nd Department of Medicine at Hietzing Hospital, and 1995-2018 Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Division of Rheumatology at Medical University of Vienna, where he also acted as Chairman of the Department of Medicine 3 from 2007-2018.

Major scientific interests concern the pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases, translational research, outcomes and epidemiologic research, and novel therapies and therapeutic strategies in rheumatic diseases. Basic research activities included mechanisms of T-cell activation and prevention of joint damage in arthritis. He developed clinical scores for rheumatoid, psoriatic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. He led task forces for the elaboration of a number of management recommendations for several rheumatic diseases (RA, PsA).

Josef Smolen was President of EULAR from 2003 to 2005 and President of the Austrian Society of Rheumatology, the  Austrian Society of Immunology, and Treasurer of the International Union of Immunological Societies. Dr Smolen is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), and Honorary Doctor of Lund University (Sweden), Leiden University (The Netherlands), and Semmelweis University (Hungary). He is co-editor of “Rheumatology”, now in preparation for its 8th edition. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Mahmood MTM Ally received his MBChB degree in 1979 from the University of the Witwatersrand.He has been a rheumatologist since 2000 and  since 2005 to date, he has been head of rheumatology at the University of Pretoria and Steve Biko Academic Hospital.

He earned his PhD in 2015, focusing on research related to biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). He is a past president of the South African Rheumatism and Arthritis Association (SARAA) and has served as Vice Chair and Acting Chair of the National Health Research Committee. Additionally, he has contributed to the University of Pretoria as an Assistant to the Dean for Research and Postgraduate Matters.

Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Pretoria.

Prof Bisiwe is a medical specialist who is heading the Division of Nephrology & Kidney Transplantation at Universitas Academic Hospital with a joint-staff establishment appointment as an Associate Professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein: South Africa. She is passionate about diagnosing and managing patients with hypertension, kidney disease and caring for those who are on various forms of Kidney replacement therapy.

She has special interests in the treatment of glomerular diseases that are associated with autoimmune diseases and devising ways of breaking barriers to organ donation amongst Africans. She leads the charge in providing supervision for both undergraduate and postgraduate training. With a passion for cultivating the next generation of healthcare professionals, her commitment extends beyond the classroom, fostering an environment that encourages innovation and excellence in medical practice with a patient-centred approach.

Dr Kogie Chinniah is a   Paediatric Rheumatologist and a lecturer at the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. She is currently the Clinical Head of Paediatrics at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital and the Clinical Head of Paediatric Rheumatology at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. In addition to managing a regional Paediatric service, Dr Chinniah manages the Provincial Paediatric Rheumatological services in Kwazulu-Natal. She is a member of South African Rheumatology Association (SARAA) , the  Paediatric European Rheumatology Soceity  and PAFLAR. Her research interests and publications include HIV associated arthritis in children, systemic onset juvenile arthritis , COVID related multisystem inflammatory syndrome  and Juvenile Dermatomyositis. She is also a  co-investigator in the MRC SA-WHO COVID Kids Study, the SJIA clinical trial,  and  the HIV Pathogenesis Programme in association with the  Doris Duke Medical Research Institute .

Dr. Ilse du Plessis is a psychiatrist, educator, and clinician with a strong academic and interdisciplinary foundation. She completed her MBChB at the University of Pretoria in 1996, after which she worked for two years as a medical officer in the Department of Rheumatology at the then Pretoria Academic Hospital. This early exposure helped shape her enduring interest in the interface between body and mind.

She then spent eight years lecturing in the Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Pretoria, building a reputation for clear teaching and a deep grasp of medical science. She later specialized in Psychiatry at the same institution and remained there as a full-time consultant after qualifying.

In 2015, Dr. du Plessis moved into full-time private practice at Denmar Psychiatric Hospital, where she continues to work as a psychiatrist with a broad and thoughtful clinical approach. Alongside her private practice, she remains a special lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pretoria and is actively involved in the training of registrars in neurophysiology. Her work is marked by a particular interest in psychoneuroimmunology, reflecting her commitment to understanding the complex interactions between psychological, neurological, and immune processes. With experience spanning rheumatology, physiology, pharmacology, psychiatry, and registrar training, Dr. du Plessis brings a rare depth and breadth to both patient care and medical education

Riëtte du Toit is an Associate Professor and Head of the Division of Rheumatology at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital. She is a specialist physician and rheumatologist and obtained her PhD from Stellenbosch University, describing diagnostic characteristics and outcome of myocardial injury in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).  Her ongoing clinical and research interests focus on organ manifestations of SLE – lupus myocarditis, NPSLE and lupus nephritis, immune mechanisms of rheumatic diseases, and health disparities in rheumatology, particularly in African settings. Her current research explores cytokine profiles at myocardial tissue level, biomarkers and genotyping of lupus nephritis (LN), and delineating diagnostic characteristics of neuro psychiatric SLE (NPSLE) including imaging and proteomics.  

She plays an active role in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, through Stellenbosch University as well as the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. She serves on the executive committee of SARAA and is a member of the African League of Associations for Rheumatology (ALFAR).  I strive to provide leadership and inspire clinical excellence, towards improving the quality of life of the patients I treat. I aim to strengthen rheumatology services and education in South Africa and across Africa and contribute to the body of knowledge through relevant research.

Associate Professor Nimmisha Govind did both her undergraduate medical and physician training at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has been the Academic Head of Rheumatology, of the University of the Witwatersrand and heads the Division of Rheumatology at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital since 2018. She was a recipient of the Carnegie Clinician Scientist Award and completed her PhD on the ‘Genetics of Rheumatoid Arthritis’ in collaboration with the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, University of Alabama in Birmingham, USA and the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular bioscience, SA. Her area of interest are various aspects of rheumatoid arthritis and is an executive committee member of METEOR, an international collaboration on RA. She is also the Africa Lead of the Myositis Collaboration and Trail Consortium.  

She is on the editorial board of the African Journal of Rheumatology and the steering committee for the South African Rheumatism and Arthritis Association Rheumatoid Arthritis management guidelines. She is an executive member of the College of Physicians of South Africa and the national convenor of the clinical competency of the physician examination.

A qualified rheumatologist and Professor of Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM) at the University of Pretoria (UP), she is a founding member of the College of SEM in South Africa and a Past President of the South African Sports Medicine Association (SASMA). She is also a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and a Scientific Committee Member of the IOC World Conference (Monaco, 2021 and 2024). She serves as the Chairperson of the Medical Advisory Panel of World Netball and is a committee member of FIFA’s Consensus Meeting on Injury and Illness Surveillance Methodology, as well as the International Tennis Federation’s Classification Science Advisory Group. She received an Exceptional Academic Achievers Award from UP in 2025 and was recently nominated to stand for the ACSM Board of Trustees.

As the Director of the Sports Exercise Medicine and Lifestyle Institute (SEMLI) at UP, she regularly presents at conferences and has lectured for the Royal Society of Medicine. Her peer-reviewed publications exceed 100, and her DMed (PhD) demonstrated that exercise benefits patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Her current research focuses on travel in athletes, injuries, and illnesses across various sports disciplines. She has accompanied teams as a sports physician to the Olympic, Commonwealth, and All-African Games and served as a Venue Medical Officer (VMO) for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. She continues actively practising as a rheumatologist with a special interest in SEM.

Professor AB Maharaj is a consultant rheumatologist at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital and a faculty member of Walter Sisulu University’s Health Sciences Faculty. He completed his undergraduate training in India and his postgraduate studies at the College of Physicians of South Africa. He received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, which focused on psoriatic arthritis. From 2006 to 2018, he served as the Head of Department (HOD) of Internal Medicine at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital, affiliated with the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Professor Maharaj is involved in several international committees, including the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) and the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA)

He serves as the Deputy Editor for Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology (BPRCR). He was the guest editor of two special editions on (i) Precision Medicine in Rheumatoid Arthritis and (ii) Tropical Rheumatology. With a focus on spondyloarthritis, he has a strong publication record and is a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology. He has presented at numerous local and international academic meetings. He was the lead author of the SARAA treatment guidelines for axial and peripheral spondyloarthritis.

Professor Maharaj is on the editorial board of several international peer-reviewed journals and has presented at numerous local and international congresses.

Dr Nicky Oosthuizen is a Chemical Pathologist in private practice with PathCare Laboratory since 2016. She qualified as a specialist in 2000 and held a joint appointment as consultant and lecturer in the National Health Laboratory Service and University of Pretoria for sixteen years, five of them as acting head of department of Chemical Pathology. During this time, she was intimately involved in teaching, training and assessment of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

She has participated in national and international congresses and has a number of publications in peer-reviewed medical journals. Since January 2025 her practice has focussed on autoimmune serology including reporting of HEp-2 indirect immunofluorescence assay patterns.

Dr Emmanuel Taban is a clinician, educator and advocate whose journey from South Sudan to South African medical leadership inspires resilience, purpose and service. A pulmonologist and director of the Immunology, Lung and Heart Institute in Pretoria, he combines frontline critical-care experience with international training in advanced bronchoscopy and respiratory medicine. He has led ICU teams, driven research into COVID-19 immunology, and published on therapeutic bronchoscopy in critically ill patients.

Academic training centres and qualifications: Medical University of Southern Africa (MEDUNSA) — MBChB; University of Pretoria — MMed (Internal Medicine); Colleges of Medicine of South Africa — Certificate in Pulmonology; European Respiratory Society (HERMES Diploma, ERS Diploma); advanced bronchoscopy/EBUS training at Amsterdam UMC and Copenhagen; Interstitial Lung Disease program, Centre for Pulmonology Heidelberg; research and ethics training, Clinical Trials Centre, University of Hong Kong; immunology coursework, University of the Witwatersrand. Beyond the hospital, Dr Taban channels his passion for human development into community initiatives: patron of the Emmanuel Taban Foundation for Skills Development; ambassador for the Ruth First Scholarship for girls at Jeppe Girls’ High School and Rally to Read; supporter of literacy and youth empowerment; and founder/host of the weekly academic Sanocare podcast promoting medical education and public health dialogue.

Honours: Named African Person of the Year (Daily Maverick, 2021); Most Influential African (New African, 2020); nominated for the Aurore Prize for Awakening Humanity (2022). Speaker themes: leadership in crisis, resilience and recovery, building purpose-driven teams, healthcare innovation in resource-limited settings, youth empowerment and skills development.

Mohammed Tikly is Professor Emeritus in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of the Witwatersrand. He was previously Academic Head of Rheumatology at Wits University. He completed his undergraduate at Wits and postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at Chris Hani Academic Baragwanath Hospital. Subsequently did his rheumatology fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has a special interest in clinical outcomes of rheumatic diseases as it affects South Africans and autoantibodies in the rheumatic diseases.

Post-retirement, he was awarded the titles of Master of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR, Honorary Member of the European League of Associations of Rheumatology (EULAR) and Master of the African League of Associations of Rheumatology (AFLAR)

André is a Paediatrician and Paediatric Pulmonologist with a special interest in clinical immunology. He previously served as Chairperson of the Allergy Society of South Africa (ALLSA) and currently leads the ALLSA Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases Interest Group (PIDDSA). He helped to establish the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Foundation of South Africa (AFSA) as one of its founding members. André spent most of his career in private practice but remained closely involved in academic medicine.

He assisted in setting up the clinical service for primary immunodeficiency diseases at the University of Pretoria and was awarded an extraordinary professorship. He has since returned to full-time academic work and now holds the University of Pretoria–Ampath Chair for Inborn Errors of Immunity and Allergology.

He also serves on the boards of the African Society for Immunodeficiencies (ASID) and the South African Immunology Society (SAIS) and is the co-director of the University of Pretoria FOCIS Centre of Excellence for Clinical Immunology.

Dr Zainab Waggie is a Paediatric Rheumatology Fellow working at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Witwatersrand.

She received her MBChB from the University of Cape Town and completed her paediatrics training at the University of Stellenbosch. She then did paediatric critical care training at Red Cross Children’s Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital London. After working in paediatric critical care for 6 years, she left the clinical space and worked in research including vaccines and TB trials as an investigator, and medical monitor. She then returned to the clinical space doing clinical research and infectious diseases starting to work in paediatric rheumatology. She enjoys teaching undergraduates and postgraduates and is currently the paediatric intern co-ordinator and 1^st year intern curator at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

Kate Webb is a paediatric rheumatologist and laboratory immunologist. She completed her clinical training at the University of Cape Town and her PhD at University College London with the support of an Action Medical Research fellowship. She is currently a Crick African Network fellow at the University of Cape Town. She has research interests in juvenile onset lupus, the effects of sex and puberty on immunity and more recently she has been investigating the multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children. 

Qualifications: MB ChB University of Pretoria, 1982; MMed (Haematology) 1994 University of Pretoria; Certificate in Clinical Haematology 2007 University of Witwatersrand. 

Working experience: 1994-2004: Niehaus and Botha Private pathology practice; 2005 till present: Consultant in Haematology Department Ampath Laboratory. 

Current activities: Consultant Ampath Laboratory, Extraordinary lecturer University of Pretoria in Medical Oncology department.