Early Career Speakers
Prof Ilse Du Preez
Prof. Ilse du Preez is an associate professor in biochemistry with expertise in metabolomics, research leadership, and scientific innovation. She fulfils her academic career at the North-West University and plays a strategic role leading the TIA South African National Metabolomics Platform (NMP), a commercial entity, where she oversees advanced diagnostic and analytical services, strengthens research and industry partnerships, and coordinates national training initiatives. She also acts as the Director of the Centre for Human Metabolomics (CHM), the host institution of the NMP, where she supervises postgraduate students and leads collaborative metabolomics research projects across South Africa and internationally.
Miss Puseletso Manyaka-Lesofe
Puseletso Manyaka-Lesofe is an award-winning HPCSA registered Medical Biological Scientist, Researcher and Science Advocate with over ten years of experience in diagnostics having worked in Metabolomics, Molecular Biology and Microbiology. She holds a BSc and BSc Honours in Microbiology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management, and is currently pursuing an MBA in Health Care Leadership at Stellenbosch University, supported by the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) and the Mastercard Foundation. Puseletso has participated in multiple clinical trial studies as a Laboratory Study Lead and Project Manager. She has co-published peer-reviewed research and presented at national and international conferences. She is the Co-founder and Director of the African Institute of Medical Scientists (AIMS), an organization dedicated to empowering medical scientists with career development and training opportunities across Africa. She also serves on the NWU Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). Recognized for her leadership and impact in STEM, Puseletso is a Mail & Guardian Power of Women in STEM award recipient and a Forbes-featured leader. She is passionate about strengthening Africa’s biomedical workforce, fostering innovation, and shaping the future of healthcare on the continent.
Dr Parikshana Mathur
Parikshana Mathur obtained her Ph.D. in bioactive compounds from fungal endophytes. She is currently working as a Post-Doctoral fellow at Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, Durban University of Technology. She has a keen interest in studying plant-microbe interactions and the chemical cross-talk between endophytes and the host plant. She wants to explore such chemical interactions using metabolomics approaches and establish the role of endophytes in plant growth and stress tolerance. Her research emphasizes more on fungal endophytes and their secondary metabolites. She is also currently exploring postbiotic production from fermented foods.
Dr Msizi Mhlongo
Dr Msizi Innocent Mhlongo is a biochemist and metabolomics specialist with over a decade of academic and research experience in plant-microbe interactions, advanced mass spectrometry, and systems-level biochemical analysis. He serves as Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Johannesburg and is Co-Director of the Research Centre for Plant Metabolomics at UJ. His research integrates LC-MS-based metabolomics, molecular networking, transcriptomics, and computational biology to decode rhizosphere chemical communication, plant defence priming, and bioactive compound discovery from African medicinal plants. His work directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), and SDG 13 (Climate Action), by advancing sustainable agriculture, crop resilience, and natural product-based drug discovery. His research agenda further aligns with the African Union Agenda 2063, promoting scientific innovation, agricultural transformation, and capacity development to strengthen Africa’s bioeconomy. In 2025, Dr Mhlongo was the recipient of the Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers, recognizing his growing national and international research impact. He is the Convenor of the Metabolomics South Africa (MSA) Early Career Committee, where he actively supports mentorship, training, and scientific capacity development within the metabolomics community. Dr Mhlongo has an established publication record in leading international journals, has secured competitive national and international research funding, and has successfully supervised numerous MSc and PhD candidates. Through research leadership, mentorship, and scientific collaboration, he contributes to strengthening metabolomics research and postgraduate training in South Africa and beyond.
Dr Keabetswe Ncube
Dr Keabetswe T. Ncube is an emerging researcher and NRF Scarce Skills–funded Postdoctoral Researcher in the Research Centre for Plant Metabolomics at the University of Johannesburg, under the supervision of Dr Fidele Tugizimana. Raised in Pella village in the North West Province, her academic and professional journey reflects a sustained commitment to livestock genomics, translational science and community-centred innovation. She holds a B.Tech. in Biotechnology from the Tshwane University of Technology and an MSc in Life Sciences (Statistical Genomics) from the University of South Africa. Her Master’s research elucidated maternal lineages and growth-related genetic diversity in South African goat populations, demonstrating the distinctiveness of Pella village goats and identifying phylogenetic links with Chinese goat lineages A and B. The findings suggested a shared maternal origin and highlighted the bezoar (Capra aegagrus) as a likely ancestor of South African domestic goats. She completed her PhD in Genetics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, focusing on genomic enhancement of growth and carcass traits and the development of cost-effective management strategies for smallholder farmers. These findings were translated into a community-based breeding programme in Pella, exemplifying impactful research implementation. Her current postdoctoral research focuses on AI-integrated multiomics approaches to investigate the medicinal properties of goat milk for dermatological applications. Dr Ncube has received numerous accolades, including the 10 Most Inspiring and Impactful STEM Women World Changers (2023), Women Navigating the Future Network’s Inspirational Women of 2023 Award, Sunday World Heroic Woman (2022), Next Einstein Forum Ambassador for South Africa (2017–2019), Inspiring 50 (2021), Junior Chamber International’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (2017), and a Fellowship with Black Women in Science. She has authored several peer-reviewed publications and co-authored a book chapter.
Prof Jeff Xia
Dr. Xia is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Bioinformatics and Big Data Analytics at McGill University, with appointments in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and the Institute of Parasitology. His research develops innovative, practical approaches to big data challenges in biomedical and environmental sciences, with emphasis on metabolomics, microbiomics, exposomics, and multi-omics integration. His group is building next-generation computational frameworks that combine big data infrastructure, machine learning, and visual analytics to extract meaningful insights from complex omics datasets. Dr. Xia has authored over 130 journal publications and 9 book chapters, with more than 50,000 citations and an H-index of 63. He received the 2019 McGill Principal’s Prize for Outstanding Emerging Researchers and has been recognized as a Global Highly Cited Researcher by Web of Science since 2019.