SAMI Board member profile

Petro Terblanche

SHORT BIOGRAPHY: Petro Terblanche, D.Sc.
Executive Director: Technology & Innovation, SA Medical Research Council

Prof. Terblanche has a track record in the successful translation of research into innovation. She has extensive experience developing and managing research portfolios for clinical research projects for single and/or combination therapy in the field of medical oncology, and in planning, executing and publishing original research aimed at decision support and policy development in the field of environmental health. She has been the lead negotiator on 7 licence agreements in the field of food, fine chemical and pharmaceuticals and has been instrumental in the creation of more than 10 start-up companies for profit and non –profit purposes. She has played a key role in the implementation of the SA Biotechnology strategy.

Prior to her current position as the Executive Director for Technology and Innovation in the SA MRC, she was Executive Director of the Food, Biological and Chemical Technologies Division (Bio/Chemtek) at South Africa’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), one of the leading scientific and technology research, development and implementation organizations in Africa.

Prof. Terblanche has held numerous research positions at the MRC, including Senior Medical Researcher in the program on indoor and atmospheric air pollution, and Chief Medical Researcher and Specialist Scientist in the Research Institute for Environmental Diseases. She has been a Professional Officer in the Department of Medical Oncology at H.F. Verwoerd Hospital; a Research Officer at the Department of Medical Oncology, University of Pretoria; a Senior Medical Researcher at the Research Institute for Environmental Diseases; and a Visiting Scientist at Harvard University’s School of Public Health. Since 2005, Prof. Terblanche has also been Honorary Professor at the University of Pretoria, in the School of Health Systems and Public Health.

Prof Terblanche also held the prestigious position as President of the Stakeholder Association of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development in New York from 2006-2009.
Prof. Terblanche holds B.Sc. degrees in Botany and Zoology from the University of Pretoria, and a MSc. and D.Sc. in Medical Oncology, also from the University of Pretoria. She has post-doctoral training in Environmental Health Management from Harvard University.