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RIZWANA MIA

SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER: PRECISION MEDICINE-SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

Rizwana is a highly accomplished professional with 16 years of experience in the health innovation sector. She has a strong educational background, holding postgraduate degrees in Genetics and Business Administration, allowing her to blend scientific expertise with strategic thinking. Her diverse career experience stems from research in product development to developing the precision medicine program for South Africa.

One, of her achievements is the establishment of the SAMRC Genomics Centre in collaboration with BGI-Shenzhen, which enables cost-effective large-scale human genome sequencing for South Africa. Rizwana’s strategic funding partnerships have led to collaborations with global organizations such as the Newton Fund, Innovate UK, and ERA-PerMed. She has initiated and currently serves as the secretariat of the National Precision Medicine Think Tank under the Ministry of Science & Innovation. She is recently appointed as the Vice Chairperson of The International Consortium for Personalized Medicine (ICPerMed) and serves on its Steering board and Executive Committee. She participates on expert panels for industry leaders such as Roche Clinical Oncology, the advisory board of the KwaZulu Natal Research & Innovation Platform; the SAMRC Genomics Ethics Committee and the South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) Advisory Board. She has also been appointed by the National Advisory Council on Innovation to work on the taskforce to help Develop a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for South Africa.

Rizwana plays a pivotal role as the South African lead in the EU-Africa PerMed project consortium, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program. This coordinated support action project aims to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange in personalized medicine between Europe and Africa. Her technical research expertise is focused on HIV host genomics and population genomics research in South Africa. She is currently spearheading the development of the South African 110,000 Human Genome Program, a collaborative effort by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), the National Department of Science.

Prior to her current role at SAMRC, Rizwana made remarkable contributions as a Senior Investment Specialist at the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), where she helped build the TIA Health Innovation portfolio and established the Institute of Diagnostics Research, focusing on in-vitro monoclonal antibody development and production for diagnostics.

In summary, Rizwana is a visionary leader and strategist who has made significant contributions to the health innovation landscape in South Africa and beyond. Her passion for developing the personalised medicine research and innovation ecosystem and her unwavering dedication to achieving these goals are truly recognised.

E-mail: rizwana.mia@mrc.ac.za

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizwana-mia-3541896/

Twitter: @riz1a

Rizwana Mia