Lisa Claire du Toit

Lisa Claire du Toit, B.Pharm, M.Pharm, PhD (Wits) is currently an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Senior Scientist of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit (WADDP) in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds a Y1 rating from the National Research Foundation of South Africa. Having graduated cum laude with her Master’s degree, Prof. du Toit completed her PhD under the advisory capacity of Professor Viness Pillay (Director: WADDP) focusing on nano-enabled ocular drug delivery design in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. Her thesis is entitled: ‘A Bioresponsive Polymeric Implant for Site-Specific Prolonged Drug Delivery’. Prof. du Toit has over 200 publications and an H-index of 20 citations. Her research outputs have been published in top-ranking impact factor journals in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, which have established her globally as an important contributor to the fields of ocular drug delivery, specifically ocular nanosystems, as well as stimulus-responsive drug delivery systems. In addition to these publications, Prof. du Toit has authored 15 editorials, books and chapters in books and has most recently published an edited book on nanosystems and 3D-printed delivery systems with Elsevier. Prof. du Toit has been awarded a Friedel Sellschop Award which recognises and supports exceptional young researchers as well as a Claude Leon Foundation Merit Award for emerging researchers. Prof. du Toit has been inducted as a member of the South African Young Academy of Scientists (SAYAS), based on academic merit and demonstration of advancement of the field of Science. Prof. du Toit was short-listed as a finalist for the 2014/15 NSTF-BHP Billiton Award by the National Science and Technology Forum in the Category: T W Kambule Awards: Emerging researchers. Prof. du Toit was runner-up in the Women in Science Awards, 2015, in the category in the Distinguished Young Women Researchers Category. In 2019, Prof. du Toit received the TWAS Young Affiliateship, which is an honour given to only up to 25 developing-nation researchers with at least 10 international publications demonstrating potential for a high-impact career.