Dr. Yolandy Lemmer is a research group leader and a principle researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as part of the Biomanufacturing Technologies area at the Biosciences unit. She completed her PhD in 2011 at the University of Pretoria and has published several papers in reputed journals with patent outputs as well. She serves on advisory panels on a national and international level, as well as being a reviewer for several rated journals. Her current team’s research focus is on recombinant technologies for protein production including vaccines, antigens, antibodies and peptides serving in the veterinary and health space for diagnostics and vaccine applications. Dr. Lemmer has a vast variety of national and international collaborators on projects ranging from the development of novel anti-cancer formulations, development of recombinant monoclonal antibodies, to the production of biological molecules on different biological expression platforms. Her long term research focusses mainly on smart formulations for poverty related diseases with the ultimate aim for better treatment outcomes specifically in the field of Tuberculosis. The improvements involves the development of targeted drug delivery and TB diagnostics. Under her leadership, her group has demonstrated that lipid containing nanoparticles could target TB infected macrophages. Subsequently these unique molecules could also be applied in a TB diagnostic project at the University of Pretoria (UP), a project that she has been involved in for the past 17 years. She is also currently engaging a start-up company of UP, for the successful technology transfer of the TB MARTI Diagnostic test and the completion of the clinical trials.

Currently she also supervises several students including PhD. and MSc. students apart from those that has already completed their studies. Dr Lemmer has also served as an external examiner for several PhD and MSc candidates over the past few years. Additional research experience includes; Tuberculosis science expert, Immunochemistry of mycobacterial mycolic acids, Evanescent field biosensor specialist, design and in vitro and in vivo testing of nanoencapsulated anti-TB drugs, molecular biology, mammalian cell culture techniques– primary and immortalised cultures, confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, flow cytometry (FACS), analytical and preparative HPLC, Product analysis and interpretation by techniques that include Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), infrared spectroscopy (IR), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and mass Spectrometry (MS), experience in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis infection studies in vitro and in vivo in BSL 3 facilities