Professor A. Dhai: PhD, MBChB, FCOG, LLM, PGDip-IntResEthics, MASSAf 

Professor Ames Dhai is Founder and Past Director of the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences (2007 – 2019), Professor of Bioethics and Health Law at the Wits School of Clinical Medicine and member of the Academy of Science South Africa (ASSAf). She is immediate past Chairperson of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee. Some of her current activities include: Chairperson of the SAMRC Bioethics Advisory Panel; Chair of the Human Sciences Research Council Research Ethics Committee, Chair of the South African National Blood Services Research Ethics Committee, Chair of the ASSAf Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee; Vice Chair of the Board of the SA Medical Association; member on several consensus panels of the ASSAf, including the ASSAf Panel on Gene Therapies and Gene Editing ELSI; member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Unrelated Organ Transplants and member of the Advisory Committee to the SA Law Commission Project on Medical Litigation. Her past roles include:  Vice-Chair on the Ministerial Advisory Committee for COVID-19 Vaccines where she headed the Technical Working Group on Mandatory Vaccinations; two terms as Deputy Chair of the National Health Research Ethics Council and member of the Board of the Health Professions Council of SA. She has served as consultant and contributor towards international policy on organisations including the World Medical Association, the World Health Organisation and UNESCO. She is Editor-in-chief of the South African Journal of Bioethics and Law and Acting Editor of the South African Medical Journal. She is a mediator with international accreditation through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, UK. Professor Dhai is a leading authority in Bioethics both internationally and locally, and can be credited with entrenching bioethics and human rights as an integral aspect of health sciences in SA. Using an academic platform, Professor Dhai has taken a lead in health advocacy and activism. She has published extensively and has authored several books in this field. Professor Dhai graduated as a medical doctor and specialised as an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She thereafter moved into the disciplines of bioethics and health law.