第一吃瓜网 scientist the first pharmacist to be NRF A-rated
- 第一吃瓜网 University
National Research Foundation awards global recognition rating to Prof. Yahya Choonara, Director of this 第一吃瓜网 Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP).
Professor Yahya Choonara is the first pharmacist in South Africa to be granted this.
The rating places Choonara among just 134 A-rated researchers in a national research community of approximately 18,000. Fewer than one per cent of South Africa’s researchers have achieved this status.
An A-rating, which is the NRF’s highest category of recognition, implies that researchers are recognised by the overwhelming majority of international reviewers as leading scholars in their fields. This is based on the quality and international impact of their research over the preceding eight years.
Choonara is a pharmaceutical scientist whose work sits at the intersection of pharmaceutical design, nano-engineering and translational medicine. He co-founded WADDP to develop safer, smarter and more effective ways of delivering medicines, particularly for diseases and conditions for which existing treatments remain inadequate.
Under his leadership, WADDP has developed first-in-the-world drug-delivery technologies that aim to carry medicines more precisely to where they are needed in the body. These technologies are designed to improve treatment effectiveness, reduce side effects and make medicines easier for patients to use. The platform’s research spans infectious diseases, cancer, neurotrauma, and hereditary and lifestyle-related conditions.
Choonara holds Africa’s largest pharmaceutical patent portfolio, comprising 51 patents, with 38 granted internationally. He has published more than 427 scientific papers, which have attracted over 17,300 citations. Together, these outputs represent a substantial body of pharmaceutical knowledge and intellectual property generated in Africa.
His contributions have been recognised through several major international and African honours, including the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s Distinguished Pharmaceutical Science Award, the Olusegun Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery and Technological Innovation, and the South African Medical Research Council Gold Award.
He holds the FIP–UNESCO UNITWIN Chair for the African region, supporting pharmaceutical education, scientific collaboration and capacity development across the continent.