Media statement

South African Medical Research Council appoints Vice President: Research - Dr Ali Dhansay

The SA Medical Research Council has appointed Dr Muhammad Ali Dhansay as the new MRC Vice-Presiden: Research. Dr Dhansay was Director of the Nutritional Intervention Research Unit of the MRC from 2004 till the present; but for the past two years has in addition served as Acting Executive Director for Research at the MRC.

Doctor Muhammad Ali Dhansay qualified in Medicine at the University of Cape Town in 1977. After his internship, and a senior houseman appointment in paediatrics, he served as Medical Officer at an ambulatory care hospital in an impoverished area of Cape Town.  He trained as a specialist in paediatrics, registering with the College of Medicine of South Africa in 1985, and also obtained a Diploma in Child Health.  He was awarded a two-year MRC post-graduate scholarship with the National Research Institute for Nutritional Diseases (NRIND), investigating lipid metabolism in kwashiorkor.  The position allowed him to gain experience in the research process, as well as in laboratory procedures and benchwork. The MRC offered him a permanent position as specialist scientist (medical), which brought a medical and health perspective to the nutrition work of the NRIND.  He reached the level of Chief Specialist Scientist and was appointed Director of the MRC's Nutritional Intervention Research Unit in 2004.

Dr Dhansay has served on advisory committees for the SA provincial and national departments of health (Paediatric Case Management Guidelines; Paediatric Food Based Dietary Guidelines; Nutrition Advisory Committee; Vitamin A Supplementation Task Team; Maternal, Child and Women's Health Advisory Board; Deworming Task Team); and on the Council of the Nutrition Society of SA.  He is a member of the SA Paediatric Association and the SA HIV Clinicians Society. He formerly served on the Editorial Board of the SA Journal of Clinical Nutrition; and is currently chair of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences SA National Board; a member of the Advisory Board of SA Cochrane Centre; and a Trustee for the International Life Sciences Institute in SA; and a member of the Academy of Science of south Africa Consensus Panel on Nutrition, HIV/AIDS and TB.

As Acting Executive Director for Research at the MRC since August 2005, he has been a co-opted member of the MRC Executive Management Committee; and has been involved in the current strategic planning cycle, and in the  restructuring of the MRC. He is an ex officio member of the MRC Ethics Committee; chairs the MRC Grants Committee; and has oversight of the 45 MRC Research Units, and MRC research in general.

Muhammad Ali Dhansay, MBChB (Cape Town), DCH (College of Paediatricians of SA), MMed (Paed) (Stellenbosch), FCPaed (College of  Paediatricians of SA)